18 THE KING OF WHAT
The Game Changes for Big Beer
28 GOURMET CSDs STAY CRAFTY
With Brand News
34 COVERS TORY:
A BEAUTIFUL MIND
Brain Twist’s Larry Trachtenbroit
40 DIVING BACK IN
Experienced CEOs Get in the Water Biz
With Brand News

Special Section

40

51 FUNCTIONAL BEVERAGE GUIDE
From energy to relaxation and
everything in between.

THE SUITS DON’T MATCH
It’s hard to be the bearer of
bad news, but it’s even harder to have to ask
people to react to bad news on the record.
Still, that’s just what we’ve had to do
a lot of lately here at BevNET, as we’ve
been forced to write a series of stories on
beverage companies that are being sued
over alleged violations of a set of California
consumer protection laws covering truth in
advertising and unfair competition.
Typically, these stories have gone like
this: we receive notice that a class action
lawsuit has been filed against a beverage
company alleging some kind of down-inthe-weeds violation of a functional or natural origin assertion that could, in any other
part of the world, be called “marketing.”
We then call said beverage company’s
CEO, who tells us “the lawsuit is baseless.”
Or they say to us “no comment” on the
record and then go off the record to tell us
the lawsuit is baseless. Either way, they get
pretty upset, mostly that they’re being sued,
but also because having news out about
a lawsuit – or at least a non-Kardashian
related lawsuit – can be a drag on business.
Investors don’t like them, customers don’t
like them, retailers don’t like them. It’s
another question that goes onto an already
heavy load of questions that marketers need
to address when they would rather be concentrating on their core business.
The hardest part about these lawsuits is
that they tend to take forever, even when
you win: they drain cash and creativity
that could better be directed toward the
brand. If you settle quickly, it’s like you’ve
been mugged; if you battle it out, it’s a
pyrrhic victory. There’s not a very well
established regulatory framework for most
of these cases: the notion of “all-natural”
is a highly subjective one, particularly as
compared with federally mandated rules
concerning organic. While operating in
less strenuous regulatory arenas allows
suppliers some cost advantages when it
comes to manufacturing their drinks, it
also leaves them open to technical interpretations of how their products should

4 BEVNET MAGAZINE MARCH 2012

be defined. Those definitions are then
weighed against how they choose to define
their products for consumers.
Here’s the rub, though: in most cases,
consumers are capable of making that interpretation, themselves, at the store level. It’s
the attorneys purporting to represent those
consumers who are driving everyone nuts.
Now, I’m a big fan of lawyers, litigation,
and the legal system’s ability to change,
advance, and reshape society and government. Consumer protection is a big part
of this. But the classes of consumers being
formed to bring about these lawsuits
don’t seem to be particularly aggrieved;
in fact, many of them don’t even know
they’re in the class, and the evidentiary
revelations being pitched by the plaintiffs have had no impact on the lives of
the members of the class. They certainly
aren’t dreaming of winning free coconut
water as part of their winning case.
I could understand it in the case of
financial scams, or in the case of a product
like ephedra, where there’s real deception
or potential harm. (In those cases there’s
also typically swift regulatory action that
takes place ahead of any lawsuit). But lawsuits filed over whether or not vitamins are
working better in one drink over another,
or if pricing has been consistent across a
concentrated line over a natural line, or if
“with mango” means with mango
flavor or with mango
juice aren’t aimed at
consumers, they are
aimed squarely at
the wallets of companies that aren’t
built to carry the
legal load imposed
on them by cheapshot litigators
attempting to
make a buck in
the name of the
consumers of
the state of
California.

For most of the companies we’ve
called, the marketing materials they have
been sued over clearly are not built on an
attempt to deceive, but on an attempt to
establish a brand proposition. Their mistakes, while avoidable, shouldn’t be making fortunes for bottom feeders. Trying
to trip them up on technicalities in the
hopes of a jackpot of fees isn’t proving a
point of consumer protection: it actually creates a more hostile atmosphere in
which those consumer protection statutes
are receiving negative attention. The ultimate result may be new sets of laws that
overreach in the other direction, diluting
their real purpose, which is to prevent
true harm from occurring.
Does that mean we’ll cease reporting
on the bad news? No way. Bad news, like
good news, needs to get out, particularly
because we are serving constituencies that
have a right to know about the stability
of those companies whose products they
carry. And those companies need to be
careful and smart about the claims they
make. Snake oil is snake oil, and should
be called out. But that doesn’t mean we
aren’t hoping that some of these new bottom feeding firms find better things to do
with their time. Like suing each other.

Tropicana Pure Premi um is
100% pure Florida orange juice.

MAGAZINE

By Barry J. Nathanson

www.bevnet.com/magazine

A FEW DOUBLES
WILL DO
This is the time of year that,
as the “Boys of Summer” return to
Florida for Spring Training, I get to think
about my favorite things: the Yankees, and
my annual baseball analogy column. I just
love the chance to compare the comings
and goings of the sport I love to the action in the business I love.
This year, I’m going to play the
grizzled vet, dispensing lore and wisdom to a group of eager rookies
wondering how they’ll break
into the lineup. Wait, I
tell them. We aren’t
even done stretching yet. It’s a long
season, and to make
the team, you’ve got to start
hustling, not worrying about
swinging for the fences.
For baseball reinforces annually that
there is only one winner, and that we
all must be realistic in our approach
to our business.
Like that veteran of many springs,
I tell the rookies to be patient with
their expectations, but to work hard.
Everyone wants to be the next
champion, but there are few major
success stories. First, you need to
figure out what you need to do
to stay in the game. Too often I
hear that a brand wants national
distribution, inclusion in the top
retailers’ plan-o-grams, and a strong media presence. In this current environment
that’s not going to happen.
If you want to play in the majors, you
need to build a track record, I tell the entrepreneurs. I don’t want to dampen their
spirits, but I tell them it’s better to start
small, build a base in a few markets, and
don’t take on too much debt. Early on
in my beverage career, my favorite brand
was West End Soda Brew. It was a fantastic product, with sublime packaging and
a unique value proposition. The brand
was well received by all, and the sky was

the limit. But they were like bonus babies
who believed their own newspaper clippings: they expanded into every nook and
cranny across the geographic map. If you
wanted to take on the brand, it was yours
for the asking. They wanted a grand slam
home run, and wouldn’t settle for
anything less. But they got nothing.
They were another team with all the
potential that didn’t stay on
the field and in the game.
I never forgot the lesson of West End. You don’t
need national distribution
and a million facings to
make it. Create a strong
network with distributors
and wholesalers who can
actually help your brand.
Don’t make unrealistic
contracts with retailers
that you can’t make money
on. It is essential to have
the right players on your
team. Expand regionally
when it makes sense.
Don’t give away the
franchise to investors
who don’t love the
brand as you do,
and avoid focusing
on the dreaded exit
strategy I wrote
about last issue. Figure out a way that makes economic sense
and stay with your plan. Take it slow.
A bunch of singles with a few doubles
thrown in will give you the scoring and
support you need to make it. Count success when you are growing each quarter, scoring a few big retailers and not
making too many errors. A team that I
admire is the Tampa Bay Rays. They live
within their means, play the fundamentals well, and get the most out of their
lineup. Most important of all, they have
fun. After all, isn’t that the reason you
play ball. Have a great season.

To find out more, contact
Wes Strickland.
VP of Sales, at
888-231-2684 or hit
OhYeahNutrition.com

BEVSCAPE BUSINESS

The latest news on the brands you sell

Lawsuit Nation 1

Lawsuit Nation 2

Vita Coco Settles Class Action Suit
for $10 Million

California-based Class Action Lawsuits Hound Bevcos

When Mike Kirban told attendees at
BevNET Live in December that the biggest low the company experienced in 2011
was getting slapped with the company’s
first class-action lawsuit, he hadn’t yet had
to deal with the pain that comes from writing the check that makes it go away. This
past month, he finally did.
The settlement, negotiated with plaintiffs’ firm Labaton Sucharow LLP, was
for $10 million. Of that settlement,
$3 million will come from the
donation of product for
the next three years
to charitable organizations, and the
company will provide $2 million
in refunds and
vouchers
for
consumers who
bought product
from the company’s web site.
The brand also
agreed to change
the wording on
its packaging and
provide better monitoring of the potential
variations that can come
from sourcing coconut water in different regions.
“Vita Coco is the largest brand
in the hottest beverage category: coconut
water,” Michael Kirban, the brand’s cofounder, said. “So attracting scrutiny was
inevitable. Class action suits are doing
bigger business than coconut water in the
U.S., that’s for sure.”
The suit was filed in August following
disclosure that a scientific testing firm,
consumerlab.com, had found significantly
fewer electrolytes in tested samples of Vita
Coco and O.N.E. Coconut Water than had
been claimed on the package.
Kellie Lerner, one of the attorneys in
the action, stated: “For the millions of consumers who pay for products that claim to
improve their health, this settlement sends
a message that companies will be held accountable when they exaggerate or misstate the health benefits of their products.”
8 BEVNET MAGAZINE MARCH 2012

And that notion of accountability quickly leapfrogged to California (note: see
“First Drop” and “Class Action Litigtion”
in this issue for more information), where
Vita Coco rival Zico, tea company Xing,
and reservoir-cap functional water Activate are all now getting slapped with separate class action lawsuits, each filed under
the California Consumer Protection Law.
For Zico, the case, filed
in late October,
is based on

claims that
the “from concentrate” nature of one of the company’s dual
product lines, a Tetra Pak carton line with
pure coconut water and a from-concentrate
line packaged in plastic bottles, is an inferior product. According to the suit, Zico’s
use of terms like “natural”, “pure premium” and “coconut water” fails to disclose
that some of it is made from concentrate;
additionally, the lawsuit charges Zico with
failing to indicate in large enough letters on
the front of the label that the PET products
are made from concentrate.
“The suit is baseless,” said Zico founder
and CEO Mark Rampolla.
Meanwhile, at Xing Tea, co-founder
Tom LeBon also made it clear he planned
to fight the claims against his company in
court as well.

In the case of Xing, the suit focuses on
the company’s use of citric acid in its ingredients — one that the lawsuit claims is not
“all natural” even though Xing products
are labeled as such. Additionally, the company is being sued for deceptive marketing
: while the product comes in varieties like
Green Tea with Pomegranate or Green Tea
with Mango, according to the lawsuit, they
do not contain actual fruit or actual juice.
Xing’s ingredient panel does note that the
products have “natural flavors” but according to the plaintiffs’ case, the consumer protection law requires more disclosure.
Lebon called the lawsuit “frivolous” and
said that he had recently had his ingredient supplier, Archer Daniels Midland Co.,
supply a letter indicating that the citric
acid used in the tea was all-natural. As
for the flavorings, according to Lebon,
a similar complaint had been filed
with the FDA and that agency had
not found fault with the company.
A third class-action lawsuit accuses Rising Beverage Co. – the owner
of Activate — of dishonest and misleading statements in its advertising
about the freshness of Activate’s key
innovation, its “in-the-cap” reservoir of
dry vitamins versus those pre-mixed in
other beverages.
Asked about the lawsuit, Dan Holland,
the CEO of Activate, stated simply, “We
think it has no base.”
The general statutes under which the
lawsuits were filed, California’s Consumer
Legal Remedies Act and California’s Unfair Competition Law, are fast becoming
issues for food and beverage manufacturers, who believe that they are opening the
door to even more lawsuits. According to
one lawyer familiar with the statute, a suit
in California also opens the door to actions in other states, creating a situation in
which plaintiff’s attorneys are able to use
the threat of legal action to extract settlements from defendants who are unwilling
to pay for long court battles.
Recently, other companies like Muscle
Milk and even big company-owned companies like Alexia Foods (ConAgra) and
Kashi (Kellogg) have been named in similar state and, in some cases, federal claims.

BEVSCAPE INNOVATION

Product development & marketing news

uFlavor: Open Source Beverage Startup

Call it long-tail CSD manufacturing.
Call it Jones Soda crossed with Threadless.
Call it a virtual Freestyle machine. Call it
the world’s biggest Sodastream.
To use the parlance of the entrepreneurial
world, you can just plain call it disruptive.
At least, that’s what the founders of Indianapolis-based uFlavor hope that you’ll
call it, before you start drinking a soda that
you — or someone whose taste in beverages
you’ve come to enjoy — have designed. The
basic idea? Put a bottling plant inside a small
machine, and let everyone start contributing
flavor and ingredient combinations.
The company, founded by a pair of
young engineers and a veteran technology entrepreneur, ultimately hopes to offer a way for consumers to design their
own drinks, name and label them, and
then offer them to anybody who wants to
buy them (potentially with even a small
amount of money going to the combination’s creator). Right now in a web-based
“Beta” version (http://www.uflavor.com)
that is shipping drinks designed by Zappos
founder Tony Hsieh, among others, the
eventual goal is to allow users to pick their
own flavor combinations, their own labels
and their own names, and also to allow
those combinations to be accessible from

vending machines around the country.
Already, some roller derby teams have
created products, along with Zappos’
Tony Hsieh.
The ultimate idea is to create a system
where a single drink can be made and
bottled, either on the spot or via direct-toconsumer shipment.
“We knew we’d need to be able to produce drinks in a quantity of one,” rather
than the traditional runs of thousands of
bottles for a brand, said Nathan Altman,
one of the two high school friends behind
the company. “That’s what we spent the
last three years developing and prototyping. We want to take that and expand it beyond prototype.”
To get attention for the idea, Altman and
partners Mike Mitchell and Michael Cloran
recently took their prototype flavor mixing
machine — using a set of 42 base flavors
developed at FONA that can be used to
“paint” an even wider range of tastes — on
a bus around the country, stopping at techcoverage media hubs like Mashable and
Fast Company. They recently added Activate Drinks co-founder Burke Eiteljorg as
an investor, according to Altman.
“It’s been an exciting time, especially being able to pull together the right
group of people,” Altman said. “Everything from the right partners to the right
disciplines and fields.”
While the company is currently trying to
market its service as a way of offering corporations and brands an alternative to trinkets like custom-labeled water bottles, the

ultimate goal remains the consumer model.
The set of raw materials for customization
by users is akin to a software platform, say
its tech-centric founders, and from that
platform they expect thousands of combinations to arise — some good, some bad,
but some that will eventually become so
popular that they “trend up” to other users.
Such a phenomenon has already been
played out on a smaller scale with the Coca-Cola Freestyle machine, which offers
consumers the chance to create their own
flavor combinations from Coke and Cokeaffiliated brands. Last year, a social media
campaign created a set of crowdsourced
flavors for the Freestyle machines.
Altman said he isn’t concerned about
the Freestyle.
“They make us look less crazy,” he said.
“We’ve been following them over the past
several years, and it’s a benefit for us that they
are doing it, but I don’t know if Coke would
ever go to the extreme of where we are.”
Right now, one of the most extreme parts
about uFlavor is the pricing: the introductory four-pack, featuring flavors designed
by Hsieh (“Happiness Delivered” – a blueberry flavored water), chef Neal Brown
(“317” – a clementine/vanilla soda), SEOMoz founder Rand Fishkin (“Link Juice” –
a coffee-flavored energy drink) and Zaarly
CEO Joe Fishback (“Zaarly Pop” – a grape
and apple soda) – goes for $15 (shipping
included) and cases are going for $59. The
Currently, products are only available in 12
oz. glass bottles, although the eventual idea is
to be “packaging agnostic,” Altman said.

Bough, Social Media Head, Leaves PepsiCo for Kraft
He focused hard on turning PepsiCo
into the most relevant term on the social
web, but B. Bonin Bough, the director of
the soft drink giant’s global and social media department, has decamped for Kraft,
according to several reports.
Bough, who became the most visible
advocate of PepsiCo’s engagement with
consumers via emerging technologies,
will take on a similar role as Kraft’s VP
of Global Digital and Consumer Engagement, according to Just-Food.com.
Bough’s legacy at PepsiCo includes
PepsiCo10, a program designed to put
10 BEVNET MAGAZINE MARCH 2012

the CPG firm into the role of technology
incubator by attaching a group of 10 tech
startups to PepsiCo brands. The company
recently replicated the project in Europe.
Additionally, he aggressively pushed the
philanthropic Pepsi Refresh competition
as a replacement for the company’s typical
media package during the Super Bowl two
years ago.
After joining PepsiCo in 2008 from PR
agency Weber Shandwick, Bough became
a highly visible face for the brand’s digital
aspirations, blogging for Forbes, organizing the company’s presence at on-trend

events like the South by Southwest conference in Austin, helping the company partner with companies like foursquare and
New York City’s Internet Week. He also
garnered numerous bona fides from publications like Fast Company, which named
him one of its 100 Most Creative People in
Business in 2011, and Money, which gave
him a ranking in last year’s “40 under 40”
series, as well as Ebony, which named him
to the magazine’s Power 100.

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NEW PRODUCTS

The newest options for cooler and shelf

ENERGY DRINKS
Troop Fuel is a new energy drink that offers
to donate ten percent of its profits from sales
to support veterans’ causes including the
National Guard Emergency Relief Fund, the
Wounded Warrior Pro ject, Wheelers4Warriors and Troop Vision, the company’s own
nonprofit organization whose goal is to eradicate veteran homelessness by 2017. Packaged
exclusively in Rexam 12 oz. SLEEK cans,
Troop Fuel is available in original and sugar
free varieties and contains 55 mg of caffeine
and a distinctive blend of vitamins and nutrients. For more information, please contact
Troop Fuel at (773) 399-3362.

ENHANCED WATER
Sparkling ICE has introduced two new
flavors to its product line: Lemonade and
Coconut Pineapple. Enhanced with natural
flavors, essential vitamins and antioxidants,
each Sparkling ICE flavor contains no
calories, carbohydrates, or sodium. Sparkling ICE drinks contain Vitamins B and D,
Green Tea Extract and are sweetened with
Splenda. Sparkling ICE has a suggested
retail price of $1.29 per 12 oz. bottle and is
available at retailers nationwide. For more
information, please contact Talking Rain
Beverages at (425) 222-4900.

COCONUT WATER
GoodBelly Probiotic Coconut Water is
the newest product from GoodBelly, which
produces a line of dairy-free probiotic juice
drinks. The coconut water, which has no
added sugar, is infused with 20 billion live
and active probiotic cultures of GoodBelly’s
patented probiotic strain, Lactobacillus
plantarum299v (Lp299v), per 8 oz. serving.
The product is dairy-free, soy-free, kosher
and vegan. GoodBelly Probiotic Coconut
Water has a suggested retail price of $3.49
per quart and $1.99-2.19 per 10 oz. bottle.
The probduct is available at Whole Foods
Market, Safeway, and specialty stores
nationwide. For more information, please
contact GoodBelly at (877) 975-3423.

able in three tropical fruit flavors: Peach
Mango, Strawberry Banana, and Exotic
Citrus. Lettuce Tea is best served chilled
but can also be enjoyed at room temperature, according to the manufacturer. The
product is bottled in a 16 oz. PET bottle
and has a suggested retail price of $1.99.
Lettuce Tea will be initially distributed in
Florida, North Carolina, Texas, and New
York. For more information, please contact
Complex Beverages at (888) 359-6499.
Simply Beverages has introduced Simply
Cranberry Cocktail and Simply Lemonade with Mango. Both flavors are made
with all-natural ingredients and not-fromconcentrate juices. The new beverages are
packaged in Simply’s iconic 59 oz. plastic
bottle and Simply Cranberry Cocktail is also
available in a 13.5 oz. single serve size. Both
products will be distributed nationally. For
more information, please contact the CocaCola Company at (404) 676-4120.
Ocean Spray has launched a new line of
Cherry Juice Drinks. The new drinks blend
together sweet, plump cherries with other
fruits like crisp, tart cranberries and delicious
ruby red grapefruits for a uniquely refreshing
taste. The line includes Ocean Spray Cherry
Juice Cocktail, Cran-Cherry, Cranberry
Cherry Juice Drink in original and diet, and
Ruby-Cherry Grapefruit Cherry Juice Drink.
One 8 oz. serving of the drinks provides
a full-day’s supply of Vitamin C and Diet
Cran-Cherry Cranberry Cherry Juice Drink
contains only five calories per serving. The
new beverages have a suggested retail price of
$2.99 for a 64 oz. bottle and will be distributed nationwide. For more information, please
contact Ocean Spray at (508) 946-7185.

VODKA
Naked Jay Vodka is a new line of premium
and uniquely flavored vodkas. The vodka is
American-made, distilled four times, and
comes in Big Dill, Whip Cream and original
varieties. Naked Jay Vodka is packaged in 1 L,
750 mL and 50 mL bottles and its flavored
vodkas are 60 proof while the original vodka
is 80 proof. The vodkas are now available exclusively to Virginia and Illinois markets and
have a suggested retail price of $14.99 for a
750 mL bottle. For more information, please
contact Zehnder PR at (504) 962-3743.

Little Black Dress Vodka is a new line of
vodkas catered to the female palate. The
vodka was developed by a team of female
entrepreneurs. Little Black Dress Vodkas
are available in three natural flavors: pineapple honey, blueberry pomegranate, and
black cherry-vanilla. The vodka contains
90 calories per 1.5 oz. serving. Each 750
mL bottle of Little Black Dress Vodka has a
suggested retail price of $13.99. For more
information, please contact Brown-Forman
at (502) 774-7140.
SKYY Vodka has introduced SKYY Infusions Coconut, a new coconut-infused vodka. The product is made with real coconuts
and complemented by aromas of citrus and
Tahitian vanilla bean. SKYY Infusions Coconut has been ranked the â&#x20AC;&#x153;best tasting coconut vodkaâ&#x20AC;? by the Beverage Testing Institute
beating out the two largest competitors in
the category. SKYY Infusions Coconut will
be available nationwide beginning this spring
and sold in a range of package sizes including a 50 mL bottle which carries a suggested
retail price of $1.99, a 750 mL bottle for
$18.49, a 1 L bottle for $23.49, and a 1.75
L bottle for $26.99. The launch will be
supported by a fully integrated marketing
campaign featuring advertising, social media
activities, and on-/off-premise promotions.
For more information, please contact Benson
Marketing Group at (707) 254-1167.

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

Sazerac has introduced a contemporary new
look for its Platinum 7X Vodka to reflect
the super-premium experience of the spirits
inside, according to the manufacturer. The
American-made vodka is made from from
high-quality grain and distilled seven times.
Platinum 7X Vodka is 80 proof and is available in the following sizes: 1.75 L, 1 L, 750
mL, 375 mL, 200 mL, 100 mL and 50 mL.
The vodka has a suggested retail price of
$12.99 for a 750 mL bottle and is distributed
nationwide. For more information, please
contact Sazerac at (502) 696-5957.

WHISKEY
Van Gogh Imports has announced the
introduction of TAP 357, a new premium
maple-flavored Canadian rye whisky. Upon
its release in March, TAP 357 will be the
only Canadian maple rye whisky of its kind
available on the market. The rye whisky used
in TAP 357 is produced at the oldest distillMARCH 2012 BEVNET MAGAZINE 13

NEW PRODUCTS

The newest options for cooler and shelf

ery in Western Canada, where it is distilled
four times for smoothness then matured in a
combination of new, second- and third-use
bourbon barrels. Once the whiskey is aged,
pure “Canada 1/Grade A” maple syrup is
added to the blend. In a proprietary finishing process the maple-flavored rye whisky is
then left to rest for an additional period. The
whiskey will be launched in a select number
of markets including Arizona, Colorado,
District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida,
Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri,
New Jersey, New York, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Texas, a nd Wisconsin. Additional
markets will be added later in 2012. TAP 357
is presented at 81 proof with a suggested retail price of $29.99 for a 750 mL bottle. For
more information, please contact Van Gogh
Imports at (646) 469-4450.
Bowmore, the first Islay Single Malt whisky, has introduced new packaging for its
entire domestic and global travel retail/duty
free line. The whisky is now packaged in a
premium gift box with a refreshed bottle
design. The changes are in response to consumer demand for a greater level of education on the taste experience and the history
of the whisky. Additionally, Bowmore’s new
bottle is made of a lighter weight glass and
the new cartons are completely recyclable,
all of which significantly reduces the
brand’s carbon footprint. The new packaging will be released later this year. The
award-winning Bowmore portfolio includes
Bowmore Legend, 12 Year Old, 15 Year Old
Darkest, 18 Year Old and 25 Year Old in
addition to special limited-edition bottlings
such as Bowmore Black, White, Gold and
Bowmore 40 Year Old. For more information, please contact Savona Communications at (917) 969-1275.

WINE
W.J. Deutsch has introduced a new bold,
expressive and naturally sweet red wine
blend to U.S. consumers with the launch
of [yellow tail] Sweet Red Roo. The w ine
is produced in Australia from a blend of
Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, and other red
varietals, and is the fifteenth addition to the
[yellow tail] portfolio. Sweet Red Roo will be
available nationwide in March, and sold in
750 mL bottles at a suggested retail price of
$6.99 and 1.5 L bottles for $11.99.
14 BEVNET MAGAZINE MARCH 2012

W. J. Deutsch has also introduced Flirt,
a red wine blend from California. Created through a joint venture with Vintage
Wine Estates, the wine is a blend of Syrah,
Zinfandel, and Tempranillo. Flirt will arrive
in stores nationwide beginning in April and
sold in 750 mL bottles for a suggested retail
price of $10.99. For more information on
the wines, please contact WJ Deutsch &
Sons at (914) 251-3294.

COGNAC
Courvoisier, the cognac house of Beam,
Inc., has introduced C by Courvoisier.
The product is crafted from a blend of
small-batch-produced cognac specially selected from 50 winegrowers in the Fin Bois
Cru and double-barrel aged. The cognac
is 80 proof and packaged in Courvoisier’s
iconic Josephine bottle. C by Courvoisier
has a suggested retail price of $34.99 for
a 750 mL bottle and is distributed nationwide. For more information, please contact
Beam, Inc. at (847) 444-7073.

BEER
Anheuser-Busch has introduced new smallersized cans and bottles for its Budweiser Select 55 line. Available at retailers nationwide,
Select 55 “Little Lights” include sleek 8 oz.
35-calorie cans, available in 12-packs, and 7
oz., 32-calorie clear glass bottles, available in
6-packs. Each 8 oz. aluminum can of Select
55 has 35 calories, 1.9 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fat and less than one gram
of protein per serving. The 7 oz. clear glass
bottles of Select 55 contain 32 calories, 0.8
grams of carbohydrates and less than one
gram of protein per bottle. For more information, please contact Anheuser-Busch at
(314) 577-9637

FLAVORED MALT BEVERAGES
Diageo has introduced Smirnoff Signature
Screwdriver and Smirnoff Ice Tropical
Fruit to its line of Premium Flavored Malt
Beverages. Smirnoff Signature Screwdriver
contains 5.8 percent alcohol-by-volume
(ABV) while Smirnoff Ice Tropical Fruit
contains 4.5 percent ABV. Each new product
is packaged in 11.2 oz. bottles and are available in 6-packs for a suggested retail price of
$7.99. For more information, please contact
Diageo at (646) 223-2305.

As the story on page 40 indicates, bottled water overall
has regained its lost mojo and has slowly begun to start making
sales gains again. To really see where the movement is, however,
look at the high end and low end of the spectrum: private label
is up higher than the category average, as are premium brands
Smartwater, Fiji, Voss, and Icelandic Glacial. Even Evian, which
has struggled mightily to make up lost ground, has dropped its
losses to near-even – could be a big year for the ol’ gal.

THE KING OF WHAT?
Despite a U.S. beer landscape that
now boasts the most breweries since Prohibition, the battle for domestic supremacy continues to be between AnheuserBusch InBev and MillerCoors.
But at a time when the industry share
of “big beer,” while nevertheless powerful,
is declining because of consumers’ flight
to craft beer and other forms of beverage
alcohol, it is hard to figure out, at times,
just what the two are fighting for.
The key in the past used to be brand
loyalty – and while much of the advertising these days seems to be aimed in that
direction, it doesn’t seem to be intended
to grow the pie; rather it’s geared toward
keeping it away from the other guy.
According to beer industry expert
Bump Williams, no matter how many
blows the two corporate giants throw at
one another, they are both struggling to
earn brand loyalty from the consumer.
“I don’t know what the price-value relationship is for Miller Lite, Coors Light or
Bud Light,” Williams said. “Brand equity
has gone away and retailers are commoditizing the domestic premium category.”
Williams blames traditional marketing

18 BEVNET MAGAZINE MARCH 2012

for the erosion of brand affiliation.
“Advertising became almost insulting and
abrasive,” he said. “They lost their identity
along the way and now they need to rebuild
the story behind some of these brands.”
What is interesting is that there are
brands growing in the domestic lager
category even as Miller and Bud have
eroded. Williams pointed to companies
like Pabst and Yuengling as examples of
excellent brand builders in the domestic
lager category. Last year, those two companies’ core brands were up 17 percent
and 29 percent, according to Symphony
IRI. Both have also grown without major
traditional marketing initiatives, but have
developed intense followings.
“PBR is a very unique brand,” Williams
said. “They have real strong pockets of
very loyal consumers across the U.S. because it’s authentic, it hasn’t changed, and
it’s affordable and dependable.”
Different Directions
Of the two mega-companies, MillerCoors
seems most focused on building its base
of beer drinkers, according to Williams.
“I think that MillerCoors is better posi-

tioned for future growth,” he said. “Their
sole focus is building the beer business.”
Williams said that to support that focus
on building the business, MillerCoors’
next national sales meeting will increase
its investment in marketing Miller Lite, as
well as other new marketing efforts.
Meanwhile, Anheuser-Busch InBev is
apparently looking to brand extensions
to keep consumers from going farther
afield, as it spent Super Bowl ad money
to introduce the country to Bud Light
Platinum, a 6 percent ABV “light” beer
introduced in late January.
As it has in the past with its Bud Light
Lime, Budweiser Select, and Michelob
Ultra lines, AB-InBev received a sales
bump from its introduction, pulling in a
1.7 share in its first week (more than the
better-established Blue Moon brand), according to industry publication Beer Business Daily. Nevertheless, as those other
extensions have shown, one week does not
necessarily make for a long-term brand.
And while churning through line extensions might stave off immediate dollar
losses, it doesn’t stop long term brand
erosion. The ramifications of AB-InBev’s

Brewbound
Brand

Dollar Sales

Bud Light

$5,350,922,000

Budweiser

$2,075,251,000

Coors Light

$1,954,514,000

Miller Lite

$1,677,345,000

Natural Light

$1,093,842,000

Busch Light

$736,637,100

Busch

$684,306,700

Miller High Life

$499,697,200

Keystone Light

$484,709,900

Natural Ice

$463,016,800

Symphony/IRI Total food/drug/c-store/mass excluding Wal-Mart.

strategy became apparent earlier this year
with a big change at the top of the rankings: as has been widely reported, Coors
Light passed Budweiser as the number
two beer brand in the country in 2011,
breaking up the long hold AB-InBev has
had on the top two spots.
“Coors Light has stayed true to its
message,” sa id Williams.
(Recent Symphony IRI data still puts
Coos Light at the no. 3 position, behind
both Bud Light and Budweiser, but those
numbers reflect neither the seven straight
years of growth for Coors Light nor business done in two key channels: on-premise a nd Walmart.)
So what is the goal in St. Louis, and
20 BEVNET MAGAZINE MARCH 2012

in North America
overall, which
1.75%
accounts for
-1.45%
almost half of
3.85%
AB-InBev’s overall
sales? Don’t ask
-0.18%
Bud’s old guard
-2.05%
for the answer.
0.77%
Dave Peacock,
2.02%
the last remaining key executive
-0.41%
left over from the
-0.99%
acquisition of Bud
4.14%
by InBev in 2008,
52 Weeks through 1/22/12
resigned from his
post as President
of North American
Operations
in January.
As Brazil native
Luiz Edmond
moves in to guide
the company’s U.S.
operations, it is
hard to discern his
true motivation:
is he interested in
answering the call
to take that number two spot back
from Coors Light,
or is he planning
on continuing the
search for profit
at the expense of
share and volume?
After all, last
year, AB-InBev’s
market share
dropped to 47 percent, down from 47.7
the year before, and the brewer also
produced less than 100 million barrels of
beer for the first time in over ten years. But
despite the drop in shipments, revenues
grew 4.2 percent through the first nine
months of 2011.
That’s not just an AB-InBev trend,
however, but an industry trend: the entire
category has been hemorrhaging beer
since 2008 - to the tune of over 8 million
barrels. But at the same time, big beer has
been reaping bigger revenues and profits
through cost cutting, case price increases
and craft offerings. The Beer Institute,
an industry lobbying organization, said
beer sales rose 2 percent in 2011 to more
Change vs. year earlier

than $98 billion. In terms of cash revenue,
off-premise sales grew a full percent, while
on-premise grew an impressive 3 percent.
Crafting New Ideas
Which brings us back to craft, and its role
in the overall picture of domestic beer.
In an effort to recover revenues from
some of those lost barrels, MillerCoors
is dedicating increased time and money to
its craft division, Tenth and Blake.
The company has invested in Athens,
Ga.-based Terrapin Beer Co. and recently
acquired Crispin Cider. Miller has also
publicly stated being “open to developing
new relationships
and new partnerships.” Meanwhile,
it has continued to
reap the benefits of
having a craftstyle offering in
Blue Moon.
AB-InBev? The
company acquired
craft brewer Goose
Island last summer
– the Goose will
be introducing its
popular 312 Urban
Wheat Ale in cans
this month – and
has tried to
move upscale
with offerings
like Shock Top.
Even if the
companies decide
to go full-bore into
craft offerings, however, it isn’t clear how
much it will alter the dynamics of their
ongoing competition. But when it comes
to developing a craft portfolio, Williams
likes MillerCoors’ positioning with Tenth
and Blake.
But, he said of AB-InBev, “size has its
advantages.”
“AB-InBev is a great collector of companies,” he said. “I think they are brilliant
bankers and awesome money makers, I
am just not sure if they still have the reputation in the industry that a Tom Cardella
and others at MillerCoors enjoy.”
What also remains to be seen, however, is
how long the industry, as both beer giants
have known it to be, can ultimately last.

By Gerry Khermouch

JIRO
A few weeks ago I had the
unexpected pleasure of catching a preview
of a new documentary called Jiro Dreams
of Sushi. I don’t write much about nonliquid forms of nutrition these days, and
I’m not particularly a sushi fan either. But
the film proved to be a moving experience
in ways that I think are relevant to beverages, particularly the innovation space.
The subject of the documentary, Jiro
Ono, who’s 85 years old, runs a 10-seat,
sushi-only restaurant located inconspicuously in a Tokyo subway station. But it’s
won the rare distinction of a three-star
rating from Michelin. Jiro’s sushi is the
adored object of pilgrimages by food lovers from around the world, and reservations must be made months in advance. A
meal there commands top dollar. Clearly,
the demand exists to step up to a grander
scale. Yet unlike the Mario Batalis and
Wolfgang Pucks of the world, with their
ever-expanding empires that flit from one
concept to the next, Ono has refused to
budge from his tiny subterranean outpost.
The movie follows Ono at home, at the
fish market and mainly at the restaurant,
detailing his continuing quest for perfection and his complicated relationship
with his older son Yoshikazu, who works
at his side and has spent decades seeking
the approval of his severe father. “My son
must do this for the rest of his life,” Ono
declares at one point.
Ono’s refusal to “upgrade” from his
tiny restaurant might easily be construed
as a lack of ambition, or a sign of timidity, an unwillingness to grab the main
chance. But in the documentary, any such
notion is belied by the demands Jiro puts
upon himself and his cooks to create brilliantly presented works of art from what’s
available at the market. To watch the
documentary is to witness how the act of
cooking a meal for 10 people at a time can
be one of swashbuckling daring.
In many ways Jiro reminds me of that
unusual breed of beverage entrepreneur who, far from pursuing the grand
“landgrab” of rapid national expansion,
is content to work just a market or two,

22 BEVNET MAGAZINE MARCH 2012

perhaps a single channel, resisting exhortations from retailers, distributors and
capital providers to step it up. (On the
craft beer side, many of the new breed of
nanobrewers would qualify.) Maybe these
beverage tinkerers are not working at the
level of great art (though some of the
nanobrewers are), as Ono clearly is with
his innovative sushi ideas, but they’re
refining their craft, looking to get the
complicated matrix of formula, package,
marketing and distribution right, at a patient pace where they’re not burning too
much capital and any mistakes generally
don’t put the company at risk.
For their investors, wholesalers or retailers, this refusal to step on the gas can
be frustrating to deal with, and I certainly can understand where they’re coming
from. After all, intriguing brands that
click with their intended audience are
hard to come by, and the best ones seem
to fly ever earlier into the embrace of
the big beverage companies, where they
quickly go flat (and below premium).
Working my network of contacts for my
beverage newsletter I hear it all the time,
directed toward the likes of Guayaki, the
pioneer in ready-to-drink yerba mate.
Having built awareness of the ingredient
and weathered challenges from rivals,
why won’t they step it up with more
forceful marketing already?
Just as in Jiro’s case, though, patience
doesn’t necessarily signal a lack of ambition. Guayaki has no interest in digging
itself into a financial hole, and it has a social mission to concentrate on, too. Purity
Organic hasn’t wanted to burn capital at a
rate that could start to cloud the prospects
of the company’s core business, organic
tree fruit. Maybe, as with the brothers operating Maine Root sodas, they’re enjoying the ride and see no reason, say, to do
retail deals on which they lose money just
for the exposure. (Remember, you can
die from exposure.) Or take the married
couple, Steve and Ann Prato, who’ve been
operating Joe Tea from New Jersey for the
better part of a decade without yet venturing in any serious way into the compli-

cated and expensive New York market just
across the Hudson River: It’s a decent living for folks who’re not necessarily racing
to get somewhere else in their lives, and if
some shock occurs to the system – such as
AriZona Iced Tea eventually selling out –
maybe that will create an opportunity that
justifies hitting the gas. Or not.
Compared to all the interesting brands
– like New Leaf Tea or Function or
Adina Holistics – that found themselves
in a financial predicament after trying to
accomplish too much, too soon, the goslow method doesn’t seem like complete
madness, even though it extends the
timeline for a breakout success of the order of a SoBe or a Vitaminwater. There’s
something to that turtle-and-hare fable
after all. My experience suggests that the
market often waits for whenever great
entries are ready to step it up. Purity
Organic’s recent acceptance of an equity
investment from First Beverage Group
– and with it access to the expertise and
instincts of First Beverage’s impressive
array of partners – seems to justify the
brand’s protracted incubation. People
who visit Joe Tea’s copacker tell me that,
judging from the skids of product they
see stacked there, the brand has quietly
gotten to a meaningful size – even though
you still can’t find it in New York outside
a handful of Whole Foods stores.
So back to Jiro. As I said, sushi isn’t
much my thing, though I enjoy it when I
encounter it. (Indeed, the closest connection I may have to fish is that, in a day or
two, after you’ve read this column, you’ll
be using it to wrap fish, as the old saw has
it.) But watching Ono starring on his tiny
stage is a useful reminder that it doesn’t
require a risky landgrab to have an exciting, fruitful run in beverages, as long as,
like Jiro, you’re will to take the time. And
he’s 85 and, as he makes clear in the film,
not planning on going anywhere soon.
Longtime beverage-watcher Gerry Khermouch
is executive editor of Beverage Business Insights, a twice-weekly e-newsletter covering the
nonalcoholic beverage sector.

months, the beverage industry has seen
an onslaught of litigation in a particularly
scary form of litigation – class actions.
These cases are particularly frightening for companies because enterprising
plaintiffs’ lawyers are able to initiate a
case, ostensibly for the good of numerous
wronged consumers, with the sign-off of
only a handful of people that are willing to lend their names to the lawsuit.
Plaintiffs’ lawyers take these few plaintiffs,
some of whom may have been recruited
by the lawyers, and threaten to turn the
case into a massive class action on behalf
of thousands, and sometimes millions,
of beverage consumers. And while the
24 BEVNET MAGAZINE MARCH 2012

plaintiffs’ lawyer may position these cases
as being brought on behalf of the public
to right the wrongs perpetrated by “ne’er
do well” companies, the real purpose of
these lawsuits is clear. Money -- or, more
accurately, exorbitant attorneys’ fees to
plaintiffs’ counsel.
At the end of the day, the number of
class action lawsuits has risen because
plaintiffs’ lawyers see them as a real opportunity to generate income with very
little investments and almost no barriers
to entry. Class action lawsuits are filed
and litigated to put enough pressure on

a defendant company, through bad PR,
massive legal expenses, and the risk - no
matter how small - of having to pay a
huge judgment if some jury happens
to agree with the plaintiffs, to force a
settlement. As a significant part of these
settlements, the plaintiffs’ lawyers seek
massive attorneys’ fees, while, ironically,
the consumers, those supposedly “damaged” by the offending company, often
receive trivial sums.
Beverage companies of every shape and
size have been targeted over the past few
years in class action litigation. Lawsuits

centered on false and misleading advertising claims have included, among other
actions, allegations that “all natural” products actually weren’t, in fact, “all natural,”
arguments that health claims were not
adequately substantiated, and claims that
beverage makers failed to disclose that the
product was not as “good for you” as consumers might assume. Following are just
a few of the more prevalent class action
theories being asserted against companies
in the beverage industry and the risk associated with them.
The Explosion of
“All Natural” Litigation
A frequent component of class action
lawsuits against beverage companies in
recent years has been the allegation that a
beverage labeled as “all natural” contains
one or more synthetic or processed ingredients, thereby causing such a claim to
be false or misleading. Class actions have
been filed against industry participants
big and small over various ingredients that
allegedly make a beverage product not
“all natural.” Ingredients that have been
the subject of class action claims include
of sodium benzoate, alkalized cocoa,
disodium dihydrogen pyrophosphate, high
fructose corn syrup (“HFCS”), synthetic
vitamins, and genetically modified components, including soy.
A variety of factors drive these types of
cases, two of the biggest factors being the
expansive nature of the consumer protection laws, particularly those in California,
and the FDA’s failure to provide a clear
definition of the term “natural.” Let’s start
with a consideration of the consumer protection laws in California. California law
allows plaintiffs to sue over any business
practice merely by calling it “unlawful,”
“unfair,” or “deceptive” business practice.
The bar is set pretty low and makes it
relatively easy for someone to sue. Plaintiffs’ trial lawyers can, and do, claim that
almost anything is an unfair or deceptive
practice, including labeling a product “all
natural” when it contains some component that is arguably not “natural.”
The FDA’s failure to provide a formal
definition of “natural,” by regulation or
otherwise, and its relative sparse history of
regulatory oversight of such claims, only
adds to this problem and creates an environment ripe for more litigation and more

and the Federal Trade Commission. But
class actions. Despite requests from other
in the past year, consumer class action
regulatory organizations and the federal
lawyers and competitors have taken it
courts, the FDA has repeatedly declined
upon themselves to step into the shoes of
to provide clear guidance on the issue.
the FDA and the FTC and sue companies
Instead, the FDA continues to reference
an informal policy regarding the definition for allegedly exaggerating health benefits
or failing to substantiate claims.
of “natural,” derived from a 1993 Federal
Any number of theories have surfaced
Register notice in which, ironically, the
in recent litigation. Allegations include
FDA announced that it was abandoning
claims challenging whether coconut
efforts to formally define “natural.” In
water is “super-hydrating” and contains
the few warning letters that the FDA has
“mega-electrolytes,” to claims that acai
issued over the use of “natural” on a food
berries or other food additives do not
or beverage label (the FDA issued only
support immune function or weight-loss
three letters addressing “natural” claims
as promised, to class actions asserting
in 2011), the FDA indicated that it views
that juice makers are misrepresenting
use of the term “natural” to be truthful
that the products can support immune or
and not misleading on a food label when
“nothing artificial or synthetic … has been brain function. Other beverage manufacturers have been sued over ads touting
included in, or has been added to, a food
that would not normally be expected to be the “calorie-burning” impact of green
tea. And still other litigation has included
in the food.” Of course, without a formal
challenges to ads claiming a product is
definition, what any one person believes
“healthy” when the product contains an
constitutes “natural” or “all natural” may
ingredient or property
vary widely and often
(e.g., trans fats, HFCS, or
ends up being judged
high calories) that argudifferently, one ingredient
CALIFORNIA LAW
ably make the product
and one lawsuit at a time.
ALLOWS PLAINTIFFS
unhealthy.
Demand from consumTO SUE OVER ANY
At their core, these
ers for “natural” products
cases
are attacking comhas steadily risen in recent
BUSINESS PRACTICE
panies’ advertising and
years and the number of
MERELY BY CALLING
marketing campaigns and
claims touting the “all
IT “UNLAWFUL,” “UNthe substantiation for such
natural” makeup of prodcampaigns. The FDA,
ucts has risen accordingly.
FAIR,” OR “DECEPTIVE”
which regulates labelWith the increasing volBUSINESS PRACTICE
ing, and the FTC, which
ume of products touting
regulates advertising, both
such claims on labels, the
require that companies
range of products making
substantiate any material claims made
such claims has also widened without
about products with “competent and
strict regulatory oversight. This combinareliable” scientific evidence. There is no
tion of the relatively lax environment of
regulatory scrutiny for “all natural” claims bright line test for what constitutes this
“competent and reliable” standard and
and the expansive nature of the consumer
protection laws has helped create a perfect each claim is evaluated on a case-by-case
basis as to whether the necessary support
storm for class action litigation, which
exists for making the claims. Products in
beverage makers will have to weather for
highly scrutinized categories like weightyears to come.
loss are likely to require higher levels of
scientific support for claims than claims
Health Claims Litigation
for other products.
Another extremely hot area of litigation
Class actions challenging a beverage
are cases in which beverage companies are
maker’s health-related claims often rely
alleged to be overstating or misstating the
health benefits of a product or lacking suf- on these standards to force a company to
prove that its advertising promises are true
ficient scientific substantiation for claims.
and have sufficient scientific support. One
Substantiation of claims has traditionally
can only assume that plaintiffs’ lawyers
been an area that has been exclusively adhave decided that the regulatory agencies
dressed as a regulatory issue by the FDA
MARCH 2012 BEVNET MAGAZINE 25

EXPERT INSIGHT

By Robert J. Herrington and Justin J. Prochnow

The bottom line is
have failed in their duty
that beverage makers
to properly monitor
OTHER LAWSUITS MAKE
should not assume that
the substantiation of
their labels and ads are
claims, because class
EVEN BOLDER CLAIMS,
immune from the specactions for lack of subASSERTING THAT A COMtre of class action litigastantiation have started
tion simply because the
appearing with more
PANY HAS A DUTY TO DISlabel complies with all
and more frequency.
CLOSE NEGATIVE HEALTH
regulatory requirements
That, and of course,
IMPACTS OF A PRODUCT
and discloses the ingrethe promise of big atdients. The consumer
torneys’ fees that can
IN THE ABSENCE OF ANY
protection laws are
potentially be gained
SUGGESTION THAT THE
broader and more exfrom a successful class
pansive, and consumer
action. Although it is
PRODUCT IS HEALTHY
class action lawyers
unclear whether private
often challenge labels
plaintiffs can rely on
that technically comply
the FDA and FTC’s
with the regulations.
substantiation standard,
the standards used by trial judges are not
Nondisclosure of Health Impacts
materially different, and the litigation can
The alleged failure to disclose the health
be protracted and expensive.
impacts of a product is another growing area of class action litigation against
False Advertising Litigation
companies in the beverage industry.
False advertising claims are formidable
Cases have arisen based on statements,
claims in class action litigation. More and
either express or implied, in a company’s
more beverage makers have been sued
marketing materials suggesting that the
based on allegations that their ads or
product is healthy when, plaintiffs argue,
labeling are false or misleading in some
there are other facets of the product that
way. Class actions have been brought that
suggest it may not be healthy. Ad copy
challenge the name or label of a product
stating that a product is part of a “balon the theory that it implies or suggests
anced” diet or is an “alternative” to a
that the product includes a large quantity
product with perceived negative health
of some seemingly beneficial ingredient
benefits are examples of implicit claims
(e.g., DHA, acai berries, pomegranate
that a product is healthy. Plaintiffs in
juice, Vitamin C, etc.), when the product
recent lawsuits have argued that, given the
actually contains only a small amount of
affirmative suggestion that the product is
the substance that is insufficient to confer
“good for you,” the beverage maker had
the benefits suggested.
an obligation to prominently disclose
An example of this type of litigation
features of the product that may not be
is the case in which a juice maker’s label
so “good for you,” such as a high-calorie
included pictures of a number of differcount, high sodium content, or even the
ent fruits, even though the product conuse of artificial sweeteners.
tained only one type of fruit juice, and it
Other lawsuits make even bolder
was from concentrate. Consumer class
claims, asserting that a company has a
action lawyers sued the product maker,
duty to disclose negative health impacts of
claiming that the label was misleading
a product in the absence of any suggesto a reasonable consumer. The company
tion that the product is healthy. Examples
defended on the ground that the label
include litigation against the makers of
properly listed all of the actual ingreproducts combining alcohol and caffeine,
dients, including the fact that only one
on the heels of regulatory action from the
juice was included. The courts largely
FDA and the FTC, as well as the litigarejected the argument, concluding that
tion against food manufacturers for failing
a plaintiff could sue over potentially
to disclosed the alleged health impacts of
misleading claims made on the principal
eating high-calorie, high-sugar foods.
display panel, notwithstanding that the
Such litigation can be particularly
list of ingredients on the side panel comfrustrating to executives, marketers, and
plied with the applicable regulations.
26 BEVNET MAGAZINE MARCH 2012

other personnel of companies in the
beverage industry who may believe they
have no duty to tout the potential negative
impacts of buying their products. But
such litigation is out there, has received
some traction in courts, and, like the other
forms of class action litigation, is incredibly expensive to defend.
Risk Management and Protection
So, are class action lawsuits sounding
the death knell of the entire beverage
industry? Certainly not. Many beverage companies are diligent and take the
proper steps to ensure that they are in full
compliance with applicable labeling and
advertising laws and regulations because,
of course, the best protection is prevention. For those companies that don’t
routinely have their labels and marketing materials reviewed by experienced
regulatory consultants and lawyers, the
threat of a class action is real and potentially substantial. The recent settlements
and awards paid by beverage companies
should scare those companies that have
not been diligent in assuring regulatory
compliance with their labeling and advertising. Every company should have a plan
in place to be implemented immediately
in the event that they are sued, including the identification of experienced legal
counsel to address these issues head on.
Well-prepared companies will be best
suited to avoid, or, if necessary, deal with
the rising threat of class action litigation
for labeling and advertising claims.
Justin J. Prochnow is an attorney and shareholder in the Denver office of the international
law firm of Greenberg Traurig LLP. His practice
concentrates on legal issues affecting the food &
beverage, dietary supplement and cosmetic industries. He can be reached at (303) 572-6562
or prochnowjj@gtlaw.com .
Rob Herrington is a litigation shareholder in the
Los Angeles office of the international law firm
of Greenberg Traurig LLP. His practice focuses
on defending and helping companies prevent
mass tort and class action litigation. Rob is the
author of the best-selling bookVerdict for the Defense (Sutton Hart Press 2011), which provides
a blueprint for business leaders to protect their
companies against mass tort and class action
lawsuits. He can be reached at (310) 5867816 or herringtonr@gtlaw.com.

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tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a small category, but one that has
always been large when it comes to
innovation. And a look at the world of
gourmet CSD offerings and their ongoing
evolution continues to generate excitement,
if not big checks from the beverage giants.
In fact, scrutiny of the category shows
that gourmet sodas are in step with
many of the key consumer trends that
wish those larger beverage companies
they could harness themselves: healthy
halos built around real sugar, all-natural
ingredients, and even functionality have
long been mainstay characteristics of the
gourmet CSD category. But now brands
in the category are going even further into
emerging areas like fermentation, botani-

28 BEVNET MAGAZINE MARCH 2012

cal ingredients, seasonal offerings and an
increasingly array of flavors and effects.
While sales of carbonated soft drinks
have taken a sizable hit in recent years,
thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s still something about the bubbles
that continues to attract gourmet tastes.
And boutique soda makers seem convinced they can find niche market success through unique formulations and
innovative combinations.
In recent years, companies like DRY
Soda, Maine Root, and Hot Lips have
created diverse and lip-smacking offerings including kumquat, pumpkin pie,
and cranberry flavored sodas. While
quantity remains a problem, quality may
still win out in the end.

One noteworthy entry
into the category is Joia. The
Minneapolis-based company
recently introduced a line
of fermented natural sodas
with distinctive, mixologistinspired flavors including
Lime, Hibiscus and Clove;
Grapefruit, Chamomile &
Cardamom; and Pineapple,
Coconut & Nutmeg. Beginning with its debut in spring
of 2011, Joia has received a
substantial amount of media
interest and acclaim from
within the beverage industry.
Carleton Johnson, one of
the co-founders of Joia, said
that like many entrepreneurial
brands, Joia is focusing on
developing a niche consumer
base, though with the vast
size of the carbonated beverage category, he anticipated
that there would be much
greater room for crossover
appeal than in other beverage categories. Johnson noted
that Joia was designed in the mold of
an IZZE-type brand, one with a unique
core message and a great tasting product
that could - eventually - resonate with a
mainstream audience.
To make it as a mainstream brand,
Lou Ferarro, the owner of Preferred
Beverage Distributors, points out that
most boutique sodas will require slow
growth as well as a loyal consumer
base. Ferraro, whose distribution house
specializes in entrepreneurial beverages,
said that boutique sodas often thrive in
non-traditional retail locations like cafes
and hospitals, and must maintain steady
growth in those types of locations best
before stepping into the convenience,
drug and grocery channels.
“You need to have consumers actively
looking for your product before you can
move on to larger retailers,” Ferraro said.
Eliciting consumer loyalty is not easy,
but companies in the space have found
success by shunning high fructose corn
syrup in favor of real cane sugar or other
natural sweeteners. Although many
brands utilize a substantial amount of

30 BEVNET MAGAZINE MARCH 2012

cane sugar to sweeten their
drinks, Johnson noted that
consumers see boutique
sodas as a treat and, for most
aficionados, the taste of real
sugar trumps calorie count.
More importantly, a bettertasting product means a better selling product, according
to Johnson.
“If it doesn’t taste good, it
doesn’t sell,” Johnson said.
Taste isn’t the only variable,
however, according to Taylor
Peck, the founder of San Francisco-based Taylor’s Tonics.
Peck, whose company produces a variety of kettle-brewed
herbal sodas, says the key to a
successful boutique soda is the
care and consideration of the
ingredients selected.
“A genuine boutique soda
can stand up to the most critical consumer,” Peck said.
Peck said he strives to
achieve a low calorie count in
his products, particularly as high-calorie boutique
sodas do not lend themselves
to mass markets – nor do they
benefit consumers. Taylor’s
Tonics drinks, sweetened with
cane juice or in combination
with erythritol, contain 100
calories or less per bottle and
the company is “perpetually
evaluating sweeteners.”
“We want longevity for consumers, with regular consumption, using the best ingredients,” Peck said.
In addition to premium
sweeteners, Peck utilizes a
range of high quality herbal
and botanical extracts, including yerba mate, chai, and organic peppermint, to flavor his
sodas. And w hile Taylor’s Tonics is a relatively small brand in
a niche market, the company
and several other gourmet
CSD producers including
Rainforest Beverages, Oogavé,
and Maine Root are part of a

growing number of food and beverages
manufacturers using natural extracts to
flavor new and existing products.
According to a recent report by market
research firm Freedonia, the herbal and botanical extracts market is projected to grow
by 8.9 percent annually and reach $7.3
billion in 2015. The report indicates that
consumer demand is driving growth and
spurring innovation in the number of foods
and beverages infused with herbal and
botanical extracts such as cranberry, garlic,
aloe vera, flaxseed oil, and valerian root.
Peck hopes that significant growth in
active probiotic, botanical, and fermented sodas will continue, using the rise
in popularity of kombucha drinks as an
example. While kombucha beverages had
long endured disinterest and skepticism,
he said, the segment has now flourished
in what he called the “Age of GT’s,” referring to the popular kombucha brand.
It’s Peck’s perspective that boutique
sodas are now rounding that corner as a
category equivalent.
But if they are, they haven’t yet found a
standard-bearer like GTs. Certainly, there
are established companies, like
grocery stalwart Reed’s and
edgy Jones Soda, but neither
has managed to create a wake
for other new brands to follow.
In that regard, the category
remains the purview of small,
craft practitioners.
Nevertheless, the success of
some boutique soda brands
is not going unnoticed. Peck
said that within the last two
months, he has been inundated
with phone calls from individuals interested in developing
their own variety of fermented
and botanical drinks.
“Something interesting is
developing market-wide as we
speak,” Peck said. “With the
volume of credible competition
[that] I know is in the works,
every company launching is
going to have to bring their
A-game, which will inevitably
push the category forward as a
result of the required innovation to simply keep playing.”

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BRAND NEWS

Boutique CSDs

Grown-up Soda has launched a new Dry

Root Beer. The drink is made with real birch
oil, vanilla, and clove. Lightly sweetened with
cane sugar, it contains 95 calories per 12 oz.
bottle. The new flavor is currently distributed
regionally through Big Geyser, Crescent Beverage, Beverage Network of MD, UNFI, and
Real Soda in Real Bottles and will be distributed nationally in January 2012.

and Lexington markets through a partnership with Tri-State Juice. Other notable additions to the PoP Shoppe sales network include ties with Minnesota-based McDonald
Distributing, Golden Beverages in Utah and
Mussetter Distributing and Superior Products in California. The PoP Shoppe is also
set to unveil new, premium formulations
of its classic flavors, made with pure cane
sugar, in January 2012.

Hockey Soda Energy is an 8.4 oz. cola-citrus

energy drink nostalgic of the “hockey soda”
fountain drink dating back to the 1980s. The
cola-citrus flavor is infused with a potent energy blend. Hockey Soda Energy has recently
announced endorsement agreements with professional athletes in the NHL as well as MLB.
Oogavé is expanding its reach by offering
its organic soda lineup in syrup/Bag-in-box
format through UNFI in the western United
States. Oogavé is the only certified organic
fountain syrup available in the marketplace.
Diabolo Sophisticated Sodas are all-natural, loaded with Vitamins B3, B6, B12 and
B5 and contain no high-fructose corn syrup,
no artificial flavors, no preservatives, and no
sodium. All Diabolo sodas are caffeine-free
except the Loco variety.

Fizzy Lizzy is now authorized in approximate-

ly 400 Caribou Coffee locations. The company
also signed new distribution agreements with
Atlanta Foods International, A. Gallo, Real
Soda, Dairyland/Chef’s Warehouse, Hana
Food Dist., and Abraham Food and established distributor relationships in Korea and
the United Kingdom. Fizzy Lizzy also introduced a Tangerine Passion Fruit flavor.
Rainforest Beverages are all-natural and

contain no artificial ingredients or preservatives. The drinks are made from a blend of
herbal extracts and fruits indigenous to the
world’s rainforest regions including citron,
passion fruit, guava, mango, and acai and are
lightly carbonated. Rainforest Beverages are
currently offered in two flavors, Rainforest
Citrus and Rainforest Tropifruit, and sold in
single serve 12 oz. cans and 4-packs.

Maine Root has introduced new packaging

for its seasonal Pumpkin Pie soda and recently launched a holiday 4-pack, a product that
continues to grow in popularity. Maine Root
also introduced Mexicane Cola which, like all
Maine Root sodas, uses only Fair Trade Organic sugar. Mexicane Cola features muted
colors of the Mexican flag on its labels and
the beverage is packaged in 12 oz. glass bottles. The cola is also available in 4-packs and
distributed nationally. Maine Root will create
special promotions featuring Mexicane Cola
for Cinco de Mayo next year.
Steaz, which produces a line of a zero-calorie
sparkling organic green teas, is now available
in 12 oz. cans. The new line has four flavors:
Black Cherry, Blueberry Pomegranate, Orange, and Raspberry.
The PoP Shoppe. Canadian brand The

PoP Shoppe is enjoying a successful return
to the U.S., with recently-formed sales alliances bringing The PoP Shoppe into key
markets across the U.S. The PoP Shoppe is
now available in the Cincinnati, Louisville
32 BEVNET MAGAZINE MARCH 2012

HOTLIPS Soda has introduced a new Cran-

berry flavor. The product contains sparkling
water, single-strength cranberry juice and
pear juice (as a sweetener). The cranberry
juice used in the soda originates from fruit in
the bogs of Southern Oregon, known for their
bright flavor profile with hints of citrus and
vanilla along with a brilliant, unique color.
Shasta Beverages, Inc. has introduced three
new products to its line of sodas: California
Dreamin’, a pairing of orange and crème flavors; Very Cherry Twist, a lemon-lime flavor
drink that has a twist of sweet cherry flavor;
and Fiesta Punch, a mix of pineapple and watermelon flavors.
Ouzon (pronounced OO-zone) continues its

grassroots sales approach to smaller outlets
around the country. Ouzon blends the licorice notes of anise with pure cane sugar to create a uniquely refreshing product.
The Double Cola Company. New vintage style

Double-Cola 12 oz. bottles and 4-packs are now

avalibale in Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores
nationwide. Additionally, Ski Citrus Soda, Double-Cola, and Chaser Lemon-Lime 20 oz. PET
bottles now feature “Reward My Thirst” claim
codes under the cap. The Double-Cola Company has also rebranded its flagship Double-Cola
for a full packaging rollout in 2012. The Double-Cola Company has also introduced a new
flavor to its Jumbo Soda line,Watermelon. Packaged in 16 oz. cans, Jumbo Watermelon is the
first of three new additions to the Jumbo family.
Reed’s Inc. has introduced a new Butter-

scotch Beer flavor. Like all of Reed’s beverages, Flying Cauldron’s Butterscotch Beer
is all-natural, preservative-free, gluten-free
and caffeine-free. To reduce sugar content,
Reed’s uses a blend of natural stevia and raw
cane sugar. The soda is packaged in 12- and
24-packs of 12 oz. bottles.
Boundary Waters Brands. Joia is a new soda

that combines fruits, herbs and spices to create
unique flavors like Lime Hibiscus Clove and
Blackberry Pomegranate Ginger. The line of
drinks is sweetened with cane sugar and – depending on the variety - contains 2-10 percent
juice and 110-120 calories per 12 oz. bottle.

Taylor’s Tonics released its 2011 Holiday
Fizz Collection to select natural food retailers and Cost Plus World Market locations nationwide. This year’s assortment
includes all natural Eggnog Fizz, Cranberry Dream, Gingerbread House Sparkler,
and Candy Cane Shake.
Jones Soda. In order to determine the flavors in its new holiday gift pack, Jones Soda
crowd-sourced opinions from its social media fans. The 4-pack includes Gingerbread,
Pear Tree, Candy Cane, and Sugar Plum.
The 4-pack itself is shrink-wrapped in a
festive covering depicting holiday wrapping
paper and a bright red bow.
Cheerwine has doubled its market size by

partnering with Pepsi Beverages Company
(PBC) to expand distribution in Florida,
Atlanta and Memphis. This expansion follows partnering with PBC earlier this year
in Knoxville, Nashville and Chattanooga
Tennessee. Cheerwine also has existing
Pepsi partnerships with Pepsi of Central
Virginia, Pepsi Bottling Ventures based in
Raleigh and Pepsi of Roxboro, N.C.

MARCH 2012 BEVNET MAGAZINE 33

A
Beautiful Mind
Brain Twist ’s Larry T
By Ray Latif

LARRY TRACHTENBROIT IS NEARLY TWO DECADES
into a career in the beverage industry that has brought him cash from
Coke – twice – and the respect of his peers. He’s demonstrated a
near-legendary ability to produce wildly innovative products on a
regular basis. Of course, legend can be tough to live up to,
particularly when compared to profit and loss sheets.
On the one hand, Trachtenbroit – or Larry T, as he’s often called –
has been lauded as an innovator with a knack for off-the-wall
originality: he’s put everything from cereal to pastries to pure
sensation into a can and sold them all as beverages; he’s developed
brands for sale to big companies and he’s shown surprising flexibility
with the ones he’s kept for himself. But, while his talent as an
innovator has translated into a long and profitable career, his products
have struggled to find solid footing in the market. In fact, with the
exception of Slap Energy, a line of highly caffeinated drinks, his brands
have all been discontinued, none lasting more than five years.

34 BEVNET MAGAZINE MARCH 2012

Nevertheless, there was Trachtenbroit, marching across the
stage at a recent industry conference – along with none other
than a supermodel – to introduce his latest product, Halo. According to Trachtenbroit, Halo, due out in April, is an aloe juicefocused drink that incorporates other on-trend features like coconut water and energy in a low-sugar package. According to the
rest of the world, Larry T, whose decidedly un-supermodelesque
figure is typically swathed in New York Jets
Jerseys and Hawaiian shirts, is working
with none other than Petra Nemcova.
Oh, that Larry T. He’s just full of surprises. Here’s another one: when contacted by BevNET about the launch, the
normally verbose Trachtenbroit had to be
coaxed into the conversation, initially only
allowing that he was using aloe because he
thought it had a lighter and crisper flavor
profile than other natural and functional
beverages, and that some of the profits
would benefit Nemcova’s foundation.
“It’s a great emerging category, one that
wasn’t as polarizing as, say, acai or coconut
water,” Trachtenbroit sa id.
If the absence of joking, of gloating, of
dwelling on the partnership with Nemcova
seems odd – after all, this is an industry
where half the publicity seems to surround
which product is being sipped by either Alex
Rodriguez or one of the Real Housewives of
New Jersey – then it should now be stated
that many of Trachtenbroit’s encounters with
the beverage industry have been unconventional as well. Call them the stuff of legends.
Let’s review:
In the early 1990s, Trachtenbroit was
the owner of a busy one-hour photo store
in Hampton Bays on Long Island. The
shop was known to be popular among
local A-list actors who loved the service, if
not the bustling throng of other customers waiting for their photos. Ever the one
to please, Trachtenbroit built a back
room where his high-profile clients could
wait for their photos in a relaxed environment and even enjoy a cup of coffee.
Trachtenbroit - an entrepreneur to the core - eventually transformed the back of the photo store into a full service, high-end
coffee bar, and the small business became a launching pad for a
chain of coffee shops called Planet Java. Within a couple years,
Trachtenbroit also started a premium coffee supply business for
fast food franchises, and by 1996 he was distributing coffee to
hundreds of restaurants in metro New York.

Armed with a successful retail and distribution business,
Trachtenbroit believed that there was even greater potential for
the Planet Java brand, particularly after Starbucks launched its
line of ready-to-drink Frappuccino products in a joint venture
with PepsiCo. Trachtenbroit saw space in the developing category,
and offering consumers a premium alternative to the Frappuccino
brand was his point of entry. Trachtenbroit began working with
Dallis Brothers, a local roaster in Queens,
NY, to formulate and bottle an RTD iced
coffee under the Planet Java name.
“Larry is very forward thinking; his idea was
to upgrade, to give people better-quality coffee than they were used to,” said Herb Dallis,
the former chairman of Dallis Brothers.
Of course, creating a premium iced
coffee was only half the story. The wily
entrepreneur saw the massive growth of the
Frappuccino brand and knew that CocaCola would attempt to the level the playing
field with a similar product of its own.
After months of discussions, Trachtenbroit
eventually convinced Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) – Coke’s second largest bottler in
the U.S. at the time - to distribute Planet
Java in New York and New Jersey. By the
end of 2000, the brand was moving an
estimated 100,000 cases.
The numbers weren’t eye-popping, but
they were enough for Coke to see Planet
Java’s potential as a national brand. The
cola giant purchased Planet Java in January
2001 at a price reported to be less than
$10 million. Coke also gave Trachtenbroit
a three-year contact to create a new innovation unit with relatively free reign to
develop new beverage brands quickly and
without the long lead time commonly associated with other Coke products.
Trachtenbroit named the unit “BrainTwist” and described it as an entrepreneurial
farm league for Coke, one that would target
younger beverage consumers, including
teens and college graduates. The mantra was
simple: “If it looks good and tastes good,
we’ll sell it… it could be bubble gum juice,” Trachtenbroit said.
The only problem was that while Trachtenbroit had done well
in selling Planet Java to Coke, Coke hadn’t done a good job selling Planet Java to consumers. In fact, around the same time that
Trachtenbroit’s contract ended, in 2004, the cola giant discontinued the brand. It had fallen out of favor with Coke’s independent
bottlers, many of which preferred high volume, less complex
beverages that could maximize production runs.

MARCH 2012 BEVNET MAGAZINE 35

“We just didn’t see the opportunity,” said Ron Wilson, the
former president of the Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Co.
When Trachtenbroit’s contact with Coca-Cola ended, he
formed Brain-Twist as a legally separate and independent
entity, yet still remained close to the company through collaborations and partnerships with Coke-affiliated bottlers
and emerging beverage divisions. Over the next seven years,
Brain-Twist would create a unique and diverse – albeit
mostly unsuccessful – mix of beverages.
In 2005, Trachtenbroit took another shot at the RTD coffee
category with Cinnabon Coffee Lattes, a line of coffee drinks
licensed through an agreement with Focus Brands Inc., the parent company of Cinnabon Inc. As with Planet Java, Trachtenbroit
enlisted a major Coke bottler, this time Coke Consolidated, to
distribute Cinnabon Lattes. Yet while contemplating distribution plans for the line, the bottler decided that it would be more
prudent to purchase the brand outright. Trachtenbroit agreed and sold the Cinnabon Latte brand,
along with licensing rights from Brain Twist and
Cinnabon Inc., to Coke Consolidated’s new BYB
division, a brand-focused subsidiary specializing in
new beverage innovation.
Shortly after that purchase, Coke Consolidated
also snapped up two other innovative Brain Twist
products: Defense Vitamin Drinks, a pioneering
line of so-called “immunity boosting” beverages,
and Respect: Mind and Body, a line of natural,
New Age beverages with the tagline, “You’re not
artificial, why should your drink be?”
Brain-Twist continued to push the envelope with
unique and inventive beverage brands. The company followed its introduction of Cinnabon and
Defense drinks with Liquid Cereal, a shelf-stable
blend of crushed cereal and fat-free milk, and Fair
Warning, a beverage line designed to create heating or cooling sensations when consumed, though
without any actual differences in temperature.
Here’s the thing, though: although those new brands garnered
a great deal of interest and critical acclaim throughout the industry, each would be swept off shelves and discontinued within two
years of their launch amidst a lack of distribution partners, weak
sales, and weaker than expected consumer interest.
Despite the failure of these brands, Ken Sadowsky, the executive director of the Northeast Independent Distributors’ Association (NIDA) and a longtime beverage investor, noted that
Trachtenbroit has been and continues to be successful because
of his innovative and creative approach to new beverages, and,
more importantly, he has a buyer for his ideas.
“We need more beverage innovators, and he’s definitely one
of them,” Sadowsky said. “The jury’s still out [on his products],
and he’s got assets and liabilities, but he’s got a buyer for his
mind. If you’re sitting in the chair of [Coke CEO] Muhtar Kent

36 BEVNET MAGAZINE MARCH 2012

with his incredibly speculative portfolio, expectations aren’t
that high for a company like Brain-Twist, and Larry’s found a
great little niche.”
Indeed. Soon after its formation in 2007, Coke’s Venturing
and Emerging Brands (VEB) unit purchased a 20 percent stake
in Brain-Twist, reportedly at a cost of $5 million. VEB President Deryck van Rensburg hailed VEB’s first investment as
one that would garner ‘‘access to a pipeline of innovative
ideas and products.”
Before the Halo presentation, that pipeline could be summed
up in one word: Slap.
With the VEB investment in hand, Trachtenbroit sets his
sights on the rapidly developing energy drink category and
launched Slap, a so-called “multi-stage energy supplement,”
with a formulation and branding that once again showcased
Trachtenbroit’s ability to think outside the box. The line included an innovative green tea and energy hybrid,
and a “Frost” flavor that encompassed elements
of Brain-Twist’s Fair Warning products – each sip
gives consumers a purported cooling “sensation.”
Trachtenbroit also pumped 100 mg of caffeine
into each 8 oz. serving of Slap drinks and claims
that the products contain “25 percent more energy” than leading energy drink brands.
Though VEB did not require Brain-Twist to
place Slap in the hands of Coke bottlers, the
brand grew quickly as it gained presence within
the Coke system. Slap was sold alongside Coke’s
Full Throttle and NOS energy drinks and by early
2010, CCE was distributing the product in most
of New York state, with a number of smaller Coke
bottlers selling Slap in the Midwest. Trachtenbroit
was optimistic about expanding his distribution
lines in the Coke system as Brain-Twist made a
strong push into the West Coast and began testing
a value-based marketing strategy with pre-priced
$0.99 cans. Trachtenbroit was quoted as saying
that Slap’s volume could approach 1 million cases in 2010, up
from about 100,000 in the previous year.
Later in the year, however, Brain-Twist found a new and
unusual source of distribution as the company aligned itself
with Anderson Merchandising, a so-called “rack jobber” that
distributes a diverse array of products including magazines,
newspapers, DVDs, and books. Anderson initially tested Slap
in 1,000 Wal-Mart stores and – positioning the brand as a value
alternative to Red Bull and Monster – priced the product at
$0.98 per 16 oz. can. The strategy was largely successful and
led to Slap gaining chainwide distribution at all 3,600 WalMart stores across the country.
Using a similar value proposition model, Slap also scored a
direct distribution deal with Casey’s General Stores. Casey’s,
which operates a chain of 1,600 convenience stores in the Mid-

west, sells Slap for $1.79 per can and 2 cans for $2.22.
He’s continued to innovate behind Slap as well and plans to
launch a new frozen energy product called Slap Frozen Energy.
Set to launch this April, the slushie-like product contains the
same energy formula as Slap Energy and is packaged in a resealable pouch with the tagline, “Freeze It. Squeeze It. Get Slap’d.”
Trachtenbroit said that Slap Frozen will initially be distributed in
all Wal-Mart and Casey’s stores as well as in a number of smaller
retailers in 10 Northeast states through a budding DSD network
of ice cream distributors.
Slap has shown traction in Wal-Mart and Casey’s, but thus
far Trachtenbroit says he has not tried to leverage any of the
knowledge or distribution power from his partners at VEB to try
to help the brand grow. He said that VEB “doesn’t do much for”
Slap and, when asked to elaborate, Trachtenbroit said that Coke
simply holds an equity position in Brain-Twist. VEB declined to
comment for this article.
It appears that he’s keeping Coke
hands-off when it comes to Halo as well.
Despite his longstanding relationship
with the cola giant, Trachtenbroit told
BevNET that VEB has no direct involvement with the project.
It’s a far cry from the glowing comments
that Trachtenbroit made about Coke in
a 2002 article in Brandweek, when he
was asked a similar question about the
extent of Coke’s influence and involvement in Brain-Twist.
“We can do anything we want as far as
drinks go, and we have Coke’s resources
available,” Trachtenbroit told the magazine.
“They’ll help us with any issue we have.”
While VEB may not be involved in
Halo, when it goes into production it will
mark the first time that a Coke-affiliated
company gets involved with an aloe product domestically. As a brand, it does have
some on-trend characteristics – aloe has
been gradually moving into the mainstream, and L.A. Libations,
another innovation-focused brand house recently launched a
similarly low-calorie aloe water, Aloe Gloe.
Danny Stepper, the co-founder of L.A. Libations, said that he
is hoping Halo will be “a massive success,” particularly as Aloe
Gloe is currently the only American-made aloe drink on the market. Having another such product would enhance mainstream
exposure for aloe and benefit the category as whole, he said.
“I’m bullish for them,” Stepper said. “We need a good competitor [for aloe beverages] that’s made in the U.S. There will be
a lot of room for winners.”
As for Nemcova, the celebrity supermodel known for her appearances in Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue and Victoria’s

38 BEVNET MAGAZINE MARCH 2012

Secret catalogs, Trachtenbroit declined to say whether she is a
financial investor in Halo. He did say that she had a significant
role in the naming, formulation and branding of the beverage.
Nemcova will also play an important part in promoting the
aloe drink and its relationship with her Happy Hearts Fund,
a non-profit foundation that rebuilds schools in areas struck
by natural disasters.
But Trachtenbroit said that Nemcova will not be the focus
of Halo’s marketing campaign. Instead, the company will focus
on a message of “good for you, doing good” – a reference to
the healthy qualities of the beverage and the company’s philanthropic endeavors. Trachtenbroit was quick to point out that
while there is a vast amount of scientific research on aloe’s health
benefits, Halo will make no specific claims about the ingredient.
Instead, he focused on the products’ market segmentation:
he said that Halo will attempt to leverage the growing interest in
ingredient against longstanding beverage
platforms in sports and energy, a
key point of differentiation from other aloe
drinks currently on the market.
Halo will initially roll-out in two varieties:
Reboot, an isotonic-focused drink
made with 5 percent coconut water;
and Bounce, an aloe/energy hybrid with
natural caffeine derived from guarana.
Each beverage will contain 30 calories and
15 percent aloe juice.
Though Trachtenbroit said that some
tweaking would be likely, early images of
the product show Halo packaged in a 16
oz. hourglass-shaped plastic bottle with a
white wraparound label. The label features
an image of several overlapping green and
blue circles (presumably meant to look
like halos) at the top and an aloe leaf near
the bottom. Multi-colored swaths adorn
the front of the label to differentiate between each variety (violet and blue for Reboot, and peach and yellow for Bounce).
Trachtenbroit said he is aiming for an May 1 release for Halo
– and while he said that he and his team are identifying Halo’s
target demographic and deciding on the most appropriate retail
channels for the drink, he estimated that the company will have a
“plan of attack” completed soon.
Considering the growth potential for aloe drinks – and the lack
of any established leadership in the still-nascent category – establishing a leadership position with a strong brand could redefine
Trachtenbroit’s career. A hit would make for two solid brands in
a row, and move him from inconsistent “enfant terrible” to consistent performer, from innovator to brand-builder. Of course,
if it doesn’t – or even if it does – chances are Trachtenbroit will
move onto another project soon enough.

It’s not easy leaving a company you’ve
birthed and built. But Hoby Buppert –
and his wife and co-founder, Christina
Staalstrom – did just that in the fall of
2009, finally forced to leave Bawls Guarana after years of battling to keep the
unique energy soda competitive in a fastconsolidating energy drink market.
One of the first of the modern energy
drinks, Bawls had a good run under Buppert, and the credibility of the idea among
various niche audiences shows in the fact
that the brand has continued to survive

40 BEVNET MAGAZINE MARCH 2012

into 2012, even under new management.
Still, having worked on the company
for nearly 14 years, it wouldn’t have been
surprising if the couple hadn’t decided to
direct their energies elsewhere, outside the
beverage world.
Instead, however, they dove right back
into the water.
Buppert, behind innovative packaging
concept 82Go, is one of several veterans of the beverage industry who have
recently resurfaced in the water category.
It’s a surprising twist because just three
years ago that category itself was in the
midst of a downward spiral, one brought
on by a race to the bottom on pricing and
a backlash over the environmental impact
of its product containers.
But water has fought back as a category
over the past few years, led by the activism
of Nestle Waters North America CEO Kim
Jeffrey, who has fought to both reduce the
amount of PET used in his containers and
provide active comparisons between water’s overall impact and that of other bever-

age types. In fact, in the past two years,
bottled water sales have begun to increase
again after drops in 2008 and 2009.
Meanwhile, innovation in the bottled
water arena itself, which had seemed to
get sidetracked with the growth of socalled “functional waters” like Vitaminwater – and an army of Vitaminwater-esque
brands – has begun to come back, and a
lot of the growth of that comeback has indeed come from old hands in the industry
who had found success in other areas.
It’s an interesting turnabout from other
beverage product classes, where nonbeverage savants are starting to shake up
traditional categories with innovations.
Here, the veterans are either providing
or supporting the ideas that are helping
newer companies succeed.
For Buppert, the attraction to the 8 oz.
“skin” of water known as the 82Go “bod,”
it was the opportunity to take a new package type and apply it to the kind of highintensity road running he has always loved.
With 82Go, he has taken water and put it

into a hand-held pouch that athletes can
use while remaining in motion. There are
strong environmental benefits, as well, as
the plastic used in the pouch is equivalent
to about a tenth of what is used for a bottle.
Still, environmental impact aside, it’s
the ability to grab a bod while on the run,
suck it down and stuff it in a pocket – all
one handed – that attracted the timesensitive marathoner to the product. It
was in common usage in Central America,
but Buppert is pioneering it as a packaging type in the U.S. – possibly for liquids
beyond just water, as well.
“There’s a lot of things we can do with
this you can’t do with a bottle,” Buppert said. “We are looking to expand the
number of occasions you use water, rather
than change habits.”
It’s those changing habits happening at
a broad level that made the water category
interesting to Jack Belsito. Despite the setbacks the category faced in the late 2000s,
he said, he knew that the move to bottled
water was the spear tip of the larger health
and wellness trend, and any problems the
category was having could be overridden
by that particular wave.
Belsito, who had run major brands like
RC Cola, Snapple, Cadbury Schweppes
and others, had been on the prowl for
a couple of years for a brand he could
build, but instead he received a chance to
rebuild a promising high-end water brand
that, like the water category itself, had hit
some speed bumps.
At the end of 2009, with growth stagnating and a dearth of offers to take it
off their hand, the investor group behind
Voss, a premium water brand that had
struggled to survive the deepest parts of
the recession, brought Belsito in to try to
re-energize the company. A beautifully designed Norwegian brand that has a strong
on-premise presence and aims for one of
the highest retail rings in the store, Voss
would seem to have been a perfect target
for the scrap heap at the time.
But where others might have seen crisis,
Belsito saw opportunity. In a buy-low, sellhigh move, it appeared to him that water
wasn’t done growing despite a few years
of stagnation. If the category could still
grow, then the high end would, as well.
“I would advise anybody not to look at
things in the short term,” he said. “My
feeling was that the category fundamentally was strong, and Voss was innovative

around occasion and lifestyle. The overall
trends for health and wellness are global,
and we’re still getting benefit from every
other beverage trading into water.”
As an international brand, Voss also
carries positives and negatives. While the
recession continues to linger at varying
levels of intensity around the world, there
is also an international attitude toward
bottled water that involves a more sanguine take on it as a necessity.
“In Western culture, particularly
America, people think water should be
free,” he said. “That helps drive it down in
pricing in people’s minds, and conspires
to bring in pressure environmentally and
socially to the category. But despite that, it
continues to grow at the high end, which
is growing even faster than the base.”
To maintain that high-end growth,
Belsito has applied standard brand management principles to Voss: the company
brought in a sales crew that was experienced with on-premise accounts, where
the brand does 65 to 70 percent of its
business, and to also focus on high end
off-premise retail around “thoughtful
consumption occasion” dining.
As part of Belsito’s brand argument, he
points out that another high-end water,
Glaceau Smartwater, has been the unsung
hero of the Coca-Cola purchase of the
parent company in 2007, growing at more
than 20 percent for several years in a row.
Nevertheless, that environmental and
social pressure does remain a major factor
in the overall image of the water business;
at the commodity level, at least for the
soda giants, there seems to have been a
slow decline in the amount of marketing
energy behind those brands. Not so at
Nestle Waters North America, however,
where innovation behind lightweight
packaging has helped turn Nestle Pure
Life into an even faster-growing brand
than Smartwater while still allowing its
individual regional brands to hold onto
their share of the business.
Of course, that innovation is only part
of NWNA’s push to hang onto leadership
in the category. The other key has been an
argument – made from the top down by
CEO Jeffrey – that water brands are not
the environmental boogeyman that others
had perceived them to be. It’s a fine line
to walk, but insiders have praised Jeffrey
for making a clear comparison between
water and competing categories from a

health-and-wellness perspective as well as
for helping lessen packaging impacts for
its brands.
It’s not just Jeffrey, however. For water
companies that have been able to add a
feel-good benefit to their packaging – for
example, behind Give Water’s or Keeper
Springs’ philanthropic causes – the road
has remained less treacherous. The opportunity to pull together a brand at the start,
rather than have to green at an established
company, is what has pulled a pair of longtime industry insiders, Danny Rubenstein
and Janet DiGiovanna out of the consulting world and into a full-time effort behind
eco-friendly Green Planet Water.
The pair, whose firm, Dash Advisors,
has worked with everyone from Naked
Juice and Odwalla to Pom Wonderful
and O.N.E., say they feel energized and
excited about trying to take an entrepreneurial company from wobbly beginnings
to national brand status. The focus behind
Green Planet is a bottle that is designed
to be recycled or, due to its PLA composition, to be compostable in under 90 days.
The pair joined the company, founded in
2009, in late spring of last year; as a major
move, they have begun retooling it for retail rather than food service oriented uses.
“We’re building a better bottle,” Rubenstein said. “Having something that is 100
percent plant-based, it touches a chord
with consumers and the trade.”
Indeed, the brand was able to get early
traction because it struck as much of a
chord with Coast Brands Group founder
Bob Groux as it did with the pair from
Dash; Coast incubated the brand, then
helped move it into a wider retail circle.
Building Green Planet, Rubenstein
adds, is an interesting challenge for the
pair as they (much like Buppert) are
building a packaging company as much
as they are a water brand. And there’s
certainly competition from above, as large
CSD companies play with their own version of plant bottles and other lightweighting strategies. But the pair are also used to
that kind of challenge – “we’ve done this
six times over,” he told BevNET – and are
eager for the challenge.
“We are going all in on this because water is the big category,” Rubenstein said.
“It’s pervasive and price sensitive, but we
think we’ve struck a nice balance.”
These days, it’s a popular balancing
act, indeed.

MARCH 2012 BEVNET MAGAZINE 41

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through several layers of Vosgian limestone to
provide a balance of minerals for optimum
hydration and purity. Celtic Spring Water is
approved and certified a number of organizations including the U.S. Army, and the Union
of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.
Aquadeco LLC. Aquadeco Premium Spring

Water is now available in all Duane Reade
Stores in New York City. The brand will soon
launch in Sbarro’s Italian Restaurants in the
Philadelphia area, as well as Kings Super Markets, and Balducci’s Food Lover’s Markets.
Eldorado Natural Spring Water. One-gallon

packages of Eldorado Natural Spring Water
will be sold at Wal-Mart stores in Colorado
beginning in March 2012.
Summit Spring Water, Inc. Raw Water is

captured at Summit Spring in Maine, one of
the oldest sources in North America. The water is gravity-fed to the bottling plant and into
bottles without any treatment or filtration.
PURE SWISS Inc./AG. Pure Swiss has announced its newest accounts in California: Gelson’s; Bristol Farms; Berkeley Bowl and Mother’s Market. The company has also announced
the appointment of Peter Huwiler as Chief Operating Officer. Huwiler brings over 25 years of
experience in international beverage operations.

Mountain Valley Spring Water, twice named
“The Best Tasting Water in the World” by the
Berkley Springs International Water Tasting
Competition, is now available in portable 11.3
oz. bottles and 4-pack carriers.
Qure Water is pleased to announce a new

partnership with Nature’s Best and UNFI
and will be exhibiting at the upcoming Expo
West in March.
SolarRain Water is made with ocean water,

and uses solar thermal energy to purify the
product. Solar Rain is produced daily and
bottled in 100 percent biodegradable and recyclable PET1 bottles. The water is sold locally in over 100 retailers in Southern California.
Kiwaii 100% True New Zealand Spring Water
is bottled directly from a protected and sustainably managed source: the Blue Spring on the
North Island of New Zealand. Kiwaii contains
natural electrolytes and minerals and is packaged in square 500 mL and 1 L PET bottles
as well as 6-packs for each size. Kiwaii is available through national distributors UNFI and
KeHE, as well as several regional distributors
and authorized for sale in over 1,500 outlets
including Sprouts Farmers Markets, Sunflower Farmers Markets, AJ’s Fine Foods, Giant
Foods, Stop & Shop, Shaw’s, Hy-Vee, Roche
Bros, and hundreds of natural food stores.
Water Resources Group. Icebox “water in

Nika Water is now available in all California

territories as well as a number of colleges and
universities, including Stanford, the University of San Diego, and UCLA.
Tasmanian Rain Water Company has be-

gun distribution of still and sparkling rainwater in China through a Beijing-based distribution company.

a box” is now distributed nationwide. Water
Resources Group recently added KeHe/Tree
of Life and US Food Service as distributors
of Icebox.
Canada’s Whistler Water. The source of
Canada’s Whistler Water has introduced a
new biodegradable bottle to ensure that if recycling isn’t an option, its bottles will break
down naturally.

Icelandic Water Holdings announced a

partnership with Christian Dior for the 2012
launch of Diorsnow, a line of skin-whitening
beauty products under Parfums Christian
Dior and infused with Icelandic Glacial water.

Kona Deep Water Company harvests and

Jana, a natural European Artesian water,
now has distribution in 27 states and 7,500
outlets. Jana, bottled at a 7,000 year-old
source, is high in minerals such as calcium,
magnesium and silica.

Apollinaris. Discovered in a German volcanic area, Apollinaris has been bottled at the
source since 1852. Apollinaris is especially
known for its rich magnesium content. The
water was a winner of the International Taste

44 BEVNET MAGAZINE MARCH 2012

desalinating deep seawater using reverse osmosis, and bottles the water on-site to ensure
freshness and quality.

& Quality Institute Competition in 2009,
2010 and again in 2011.
Voss USA Inc. Voss Water introduced a new
4-pack for its iconic 375 mL glass bottles in
both still and sparkling varieties. The new
multi-pack is specially designed to be a take
home package and supplement Voss’ onpremise portfolio.
Ka-Viti Water, a natural artesianal water from
the Fiji Islands recently completed a redesign of
its label. The new packaging features an image
of a Fiji island and the tagline: “Bottled with the
Renewable Energy by the People of Fiji.”
Volvic has made significant progress towards

lowering its impact on the environment. All
Volvic bottles, caps and shrinks are now 100
percent recyclable. Volvic is also going greener
by increasing the content of recycled plastic (RPET) from 25 percent to 50 percent per bottle.
Volvic is also proud to be partnering for two
consecutive years with the Rainforest Foundation US: every liter of Volvic water sold enables
the Rainforest Foundation to help 10 indigenous groups protect their rights and forests.
American Summits, sourced from remote

peaks of the Beartooth Mountain Range in
Wyoming, has announced its official launch in
Washington D.C. American Summits is also
the official bottled water sponsor at Washington D.C.’s prestigious RAMMY awards gala,
hosted by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington. American Summits
is also a sponsor of the Cultural Tourism of
D.C.’s Annual Embassy Chef Challenge in
March. American Summits is now launching
in Chicago as well, with Testa Produce as its
distribution partner.
Project 7. In 2011, Project 7, through the
sale of its bio-bottled water and other everyday “products for good,” provided 581,220
meals in American communities, 5,765 days
of shelter, food, education and healthcare for
orphans, 10,560 weeks of schooling for children in Africa, 10,557 malaria treatments,
7,101 days of counseling for children of war,
14,782 people with one year of clean water,
and planted 547,046 fruit trees.
DS Waters of America, Inc. announced a

multi-year giving commitment to help the

46 BEVNET MAGAZINE MARCH 2012

American Cancer Society raise funds to fight
breast cancer. The funds will be raised through
the sale of Athena bottled water in support of
breast cancer awareness, education, research
and patient care. Beginning this spring, the
Making Strides Against Breast Cancer logo
will be added to all single-serve .5 L bottles
of Athena bottled water. A minimum of $1
million related to the sale of Athena will go
to support breast cancer awareness, education
and research by 2014.
AngieRich has introduced XCLR8 Mineral
Water. Sourced from a geothermal spring high
in the Rocky Mountains, the water contains
eight naturally occurring minerals, and has a
pH level of 6.9. XCLR8 is packaged in a socially responsible pouch, and its proprietary
multi-layer structure is BPA-free. XCLR8
pouches use less plastic compared to traditional plastic water bottles.
Alaska Brands Group LLC, the manufactur-

er of Glacier Water products, is set to debut
a new brand name and packaging redesign
for its premium glacial water line early 2012.
Clear Alaskan Glacial Water is a premium and
unique glacial water geared toward consumers who are health and environmentally conscious. The water is sourced from the Eklutna
glacier in the Chugach State Park, just outside
of Anchorage, Alaska.
NEO Water. NEO Alkaline Water is available

in 20 oz. and 1 L sizes in 24- and 12-pack
self-display cases. NEO is distributed nationally and is seeking additional DSD distributors nationwide.
PepsiCo. Aquafina is refreshing its packaging
to feature bilingual labels to meet the needs of
Hispanic consumers. Additionally, Aquafina
continues its partnership with major league
sports and is now the official bottled water of
Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer
and the National Football League.
The One Brand. One Water is now available exclusively on Virgin America flights in
the North America and Virgin Atlantic flights
worldwide. 100 percent of the profits from the
sale of One Water fund clean water projects in
rural Africa. To date the One brand has raised
in excess of $12 million to fund like for like
causes in rural Africa.

BRAND NEWS

Water

Eternal Water. Electrolyte rich & naturally

alkaline, Eternal Water has been fastest growing brand of premium water over the last three
years, according to the manufacturer.
Adobe Springs is the only licensed water
source in California that meets the standard set
by the United Nations’ World Health Organization (WHO)for magnesium content, according
to the manufacturer. The WHO recommends a
minimum of 25 mg of magnesium per liter to
prevent heart attacks and strokes; Adobe Springs
contains 110 mg of magnesium per liter.
Nestlé Waters North America. Nestlé Wa-

ters North America’s headquarters in Stamford, Conn. recently received the U.S. Green
Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification–marking the company’s 10th LEEDcertified building. Since 2003, Nestle Waters’
LEED-certified facilities have helped the

48 BEVNET MAGAZINE MARCH 2012

company reduce energy use by 1.5 million
kWh, carbon emissions by 2.1 million pounds,
and water use by 9 million gallons. Beyond
LEED-certified buildings, the company is
also working to reduce its environmental footprint by advocating for improved bottle recycling and preserving more than 14,000 acres
of land near its spring water sites.
Hawaiian Springs Young Natural Artesian
Water gained distribution into 3,000 stores
outside of Hawaii in 2011, substantially increasing its availability to U.S. mainland customers. New retailers included 105 H-E-B
grocery stores in Texas, 13 AJ’s Fine Foods
stores in Arizona, 30 Gristedes stores in Manhattan, Westchester and Brooklyn, and 140
other independent market retailers throughout New York City. The brand also introduced
its 750 mL water bottle in a new 15-pack
case. Hawaiian Springs Water was also voted
as Best Local Beverage Brand in Honolulu
Magazine’s 2011 Reader’s Choice poll.

COCONUT
WATER
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PACKAGING: 2 oz. PET
ATTRIBUTES: Hangover Prevention/Recovery
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People choose 5-hour
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The world’s largest producer of rice protein is soon to launch both a water soluable rice protein powder and our new
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Cargill is utilizing consumer insight,
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demand for healthier, great tasting
consumer packaged goods. We provide
supplement solutions to some of today’s
most pressing health concerns.

A leader in functional ingredients, AIDP
has access to the newest solutions
for healthy aging and unique fortified
beverage solutions. The exclusive
supplier of Magtein for cognitive health.
EnVantec Vitamin A and enVantec
Vitamin D3 are highly stable, and clear
in beverages.

The BENEO product portfolio consists of
functional ingredients with nutritional
and technical advantages. BENEO is the
ideal partner to help improve the health,
taste, texture and nutritional value of
a product.

DSM Nutritional Products offers a broad
portfolio of Vitamins,Carotenoids, Nutraceutical and Coloration Ingredients
as well as Quali-Blend Custom Premixes
for all your beverage needs.

Atrium Innovations

Bioenergy Life Science

Citromax Flavors

Glanbia Nutritionals

Atrium Innovations is a beverage manufacturer specializing in formats varying
from 1oz to 24oz, in RTD beverages
such as energy shots & drinks. We also
manufacture “in house” the proprietary
blend, we have organic certification and
can fill any beverage types.

Bioenergy Life Science, Inc. is an integrated biotechnology company with a
mission to develop products to improve
our daily lives. Its core technology is
Bioenergy Ribose, a clinically proven,
patented, active energy ingredient that
reduces fatigue, and replenishes and
sustains energy at a cellular level.

Citromax, with head-quarters in Carlstadt, NJ and facilities in Argentina and
Brazil, has been a premier grower of
lemons and producer of oils and juices
for more than 40 years. Our family of
companies is behind an array of many
of today’s most recognized, iconic
flavors in beverages and dairy.

From order date to ship date, our leadtime is the shortest in the industry.
Looking for a basic RDI, Energy,
Antioxidant, Recovery blend or an individual nutritional ingredient? Glanbia
Nutritionals Customized Solutions can
provide the solution to your fortifying
requirements.

Atrium Innovations

Boreal Water Collection

Comax Flavors

Glanbia Nutritionals

Specialized in bottling small formats
to bigger ones in the 1oz to 24oz RTD
segment, Atrium is known for producing
energy shots, energy drinks, functional
beverages, water and other beverages
cost-effectively, with quick turnover
and packaging ability. We can handle
small to large production runs.

Boreal Water Collection is a private label enhanced and spring bottled water
company specializing in premium products. Whether it’s for publicity, resale,
promotion, marketing, internal use or a
specific event, Boreal is one-stop shop,
a turnkey operation offering customers
fully integrated servcies.

Comax Flavors in a world leader in
proprietary flavor technology. We offer a
full range of traditional flavors, but we
are also flavor innovators, specializing
in flavor improvements for healthy foods
and customized solutions to every food
and beverage flavor challenge.

GMP stands for Good Manufacturing
Practices and is representative of our
commitment to quality and excellence.
We are renowned in the nutraceutical
industry for the quality of our products
and quick turnaround. Our team includes biochemists, Ph.Ds and medical
doctors, will offer solutions needs.

Full service manufacturer of carriers for
the beverage industry. We specialize in
producing 6-pack carriers, and 4-pack
carriers for 12 oz and 16 oz bottles. We
also manufacture 4-pack, 6-pack, 12pack, 24-pack, and 30-pack can wraps
for 12 oz. and 16 oz. cans in regular and
sleek cans.

GreenSeed Contract

Jungbunzlauer

Moss Adams LLP

Nor-Cal Beverage Company, Inc.

GreenSeed Contract Packaging delivers
on a a well-integrated strategic approach to providing contract packaging solutions to the food, beverage,
and nutrition industries. Exceptional
value pricing with quality results, every
project, every client, every time.

Jungbunzlauer is one of the world’s
leading producers of biodegradable
ingredients of natural origin. Today,
Jungbunzlauer specialises in citric acid,
xanthan gum, gluconates, lactics, specialties, special salts and sweeteners
for the beverage industry as well as for
various other industrial applications.

It’s crucial to maximize efficiencies,
reduce your tax exposure, and plan
strategically for the future. Trusted tax,
assurance, and business advisors to
more than 1,000 food and beverage
companies, Moss Adams industryfocused professionals understand the
challenges you face.

Running production lines featuring
the latest engineering and technology. We’ve become the West Coast’s
largest independent co-pack bottler of
healthier, better-for-you products, and
become a busy beer distributor, equipment solutions provider, and producer of
Go Girl line of energy drinks.

GreenSeed Contract Packaging

Lonza Inc.

Nature’s Way Purewater

NutraGenesis LLC

GreenSeed Contract Packaging offers
Stick Packaging solutions to the
beverage industry. If you’re bringing
a product to market or have a n new
idea or approach, consider GreenSeed
Contract Packaging as a partner in your
stick pack development

Lonza is a leading supplier of Carnipure
L-carnitine. Carnipure tartrate and
Carnipure crystalline are self-affirmed
GRAS, bright white, pH and heat stable,
highly water soluble and form colorless
solutions. ResistAid is a proprietary
natural immune support ingredient that
has antioxidant capacity.

We operate multiple production lines.
Capable of bottling 10 oz. to 1.5
liter products. Label options include
pressure sensitive, shrink sleeve and
cut and stack. We develope complex
functional beverages along with
assisting in securing DSD and
warehousing distribution.

The Martin Bauer Group is the world’s
leading supplier of tea and herbal
extracts and raw materials for the
food and beverage industries.
Supplying off-the-shelf ingredients
and tailor-made products for your
beverage requirements.

Naturex manufactures natural speciality
ingredients for the Food & Beverage
industries. Headquartered in France,
Naturex employs over 1000 people and
has 14 production units located in Europe, the United State, Brazil, Australia
and Morocco.

O’Laughlin Industries is an American
company headquartered in Hong Kong.
The facility is designed to produce
several important Polyols, including
Erythritol, Xylitol and Isomalt. We also
offer standard as well as custom blends
of co-crystallized Erythritol and Stevia
for your manufacturing needs.

Takasago is distinguished in the flavor
industry with more than a thousand
patents, and is considered a leader in
specific technologies for high impact
flavors, including the Sensates and
Vivid Flavor product lines.

Parkside Beverage

Purac America, Inc

Stiebs, LLC

TAP PRODUCTIONS

Custom beverage formulation on all
non-alcoholic products. Focused
service and consulting from concept
to commercialization. Clients own and
control finished formulations. We take
the time to teach you about the process,
listen to your goals and advise with
common sense.

Purac has a broad and versatile product
portfolio for the beverage market,
including products for preservation,
acidification, flavor boosting, masking
off flavors of intensive sweeteners and
mineral fortification. Our products help
our customers bring healthier, more delicious beverage products to consumers.

We know beverages! Over 21 years of
beverage experience, specializing in
merchandising and collateral. We’ll
handle all aspects of providing your
custom print labels, displays, wearables
and premium items.

Performance Packaging
of Nevada

S&D Coffee

SUnny Delight Beverages Co

The NutraSweet Company

Performance Packaging has modern
manufacturing facilities and a dedication to customer service which assure
that you receive a positive buying
experience. We provide packaging for
snack food, candy, beverages, cleaning
and laundry goods, personal care items,
and so much more!

Do you need beverage copacking
services on the East Coast to produce
your fresh, high quality, great tasting,
non preservative based products? Our
state-of-the-art aseptic cold filled, high
acid beverage line may be the answer.

The NutraSweet Company stands alone
in its ability to provide customers with a
full value portfolio NutraSweet produces
the sweeteners aspartame, neotame,
and twinsweet (aspartame-acesulfame
salt) and the essential amino acid
l-phenylalanine.

PHARMACHEM

SleeveCo, Inc.

SunOpta Food Solutions

The Wright Group

PHARMACHEM is a family of companies that manufactures a variety of
ingredients and consumer beverage
products. We supply soluble premix and
fortification systems. We copack turnkey
RTD beverages and instantized powder
drink mixes.

At SunOpta, one of our major focus
areas is on the manufacturing of
organic and natural food products for
the private label retail and food service
sector. Our mission is to help our customers develop healthier food products
for their customers.

The Wright Group is an industry leader
in the development of custom nutrient
premixes for the beverage industry. If
you are experiencing taste, odor or
mouth feel issues with your products,
Wright can help by providing specialty
solutions.

MARCH 2012 BEVNET MAGAZINE 77

Virginia Dare

WILD Flavors, Inc.

The knowledge of the beverage applications technologists in combination with
the exceptional flavor creation chemists
on staff is used to develop tasty beverages both alcoholic and non-alcoholic.
Virginia Dare assists the in R&D
process from concept to production.

WILD Flavors Inc. focuses on outstanding flavor, functionality, quality and
safety of its products. WILD is committed to developing innovative products
that maintain a leading position in
technology, quality, service, and innovation. “We Create Great Taste”

COMPANY CONTACT INFORMATION
COMPANY

CONTACT NAME

CITY

STATE

ZIP

PHONE

A. Holliday & Company Inc.

Christine Renken

Toronto

ON

M2P 2A8

416-225-2217

WEB SITE
www.teacoff.com

ACTIVATE Drinks

Jesse Merrill

Newport Beach

CA

92600

949-398-8500

www.activatedrinks.com

Adrenaline Labs

Scott Movic

Jupiter

FL

33468

866-966-6664

www.forefocus.com

Afterglow Beverage Company, Inc.

Jason Walter

Wilmington

NC

28412

910-742-0152

www.hangovergone.com
www.aidp.com

AIDP, Inc.

Kathy Lund

City of Industry

CA

91748

866-262-6699

ALO Drink by SPI West Port

Tim Haselman

South San Francisco

CA

94080

650-616-7777

www.alodrink.com

AquaNew, LLC

Dana Gourley

Sarasota

FL

34276

888-936-2782

www.AquaNew.com

AriZona Beverage Co.

Doreen Higney

Woodbury

NY

11797

516-812-0300

Arizona Investment & Trading, LLC

Jane Romley

Scottsdale

AZ

85258

480-315-9141

www.fikksenergy.com

Assure Water

Chuck Miller

Lawrenceville

GA

30044

770-262-5709

www.assurewater.com

Atrium Innovations

Vincent Langlois

Pittsburgh

PA

15205

450-504-4918

www.atrium-innovations.com

Axiom Foods

Reed Powell

Los Angeles

CA

90025

424-216-7521

www.axiomfoods.com

Ayu Drinks

Akil Palanisamy

San Francisco

CA

888-925-7455

www.ayudrinks.com

Balance Water

Martin Chalk

New York

NY

10001

212-564-0878

www.drinkbalance.com

Baobab Foods

Stephan Broburg

Bellevue

WA

98005

800-682-0221

www.baobabfoods.com

Bare Nutrition, LLC

Camille Reith

Salinas

CA

93905

831-998-8102

www.drinkchiavie.com

BAWLS Acquisition

Lisa Karell

Miami

FL

33137

888-731-9708

www.bawls.com

BeBevCo

Brian Weber

Mooresville

NC

28117

704-665-5811

www.bebevco.com

BENEO Inc.

Joe O'Neill

Morris Plains

NJ

7950

973-867-2140

www.beneo.com

Bigfoot Beverages

Chris Hannemann

Redmond

WA

98052

562-822-9036

www.dragon-nrg.com

BigQuark LLC

Clark Wolfsberger

Saint Louis

MO

63130

314-727-6903

www.BeautySleepUSA.com

Bioenergy Life Science

Gabe Herrick

Minneapolis

MN

55304

763-757-0032

www.bioenergyribose.com

BODYARMOR Nutrition, LLC

John Kenneally

Beverly Hills

CA

90210

770-845-7780

www.drinkbodyarmor.com

Bon Affair, Inc.

Jayla Siciliano

Solana Beach

CA

92075

805-259-9327

www.bonaffair.com

Boreal Water Collection

Christopher Umecki

Kiamesha Lake

NY

12751

845-794-0400

BYB Brands, Inc.

www.borealwater.com
www.fuelinabottle.com

C2O Pure Coconut Water

Adam Biggs

Long Beach

CA

90802

562-951-9709

www.c2o-cocowater.com

CALIDRIS 28 US, Inc.

Norbert Seufert

Newport Beach

CA

92660

858-229-5625

www.28black.com

78 BEVNET MAGAZINE MARCH 2012

COMPANY

CONTACT NAME

CITY

STATE

ZIP

PHONE

WEB SITE

Cargill

Tom Lindberg

Celsius, Inc.

Irina Lorenzi

Boca Raton

FL

33431

561-276-2239

www.celsius.com

Chemi Nutra

Chase Hagerman

White Bear Lake

MN

55110

651-407-0400

www.cheminutra.com

Cintron Beverage Group

Donna Davin

Philadelphia

PA

19153

267-298-2100

www.cintron21.com

Citromax Flavors

Elaine Kellman-Grosinger

Carlstadt

NJ

7072

201-933-8405

www.citromaxflavors.com

Click

Greg Smith

Clovis

CA

93619

559-307-6459

www.drinkclick.com

Comax Flavors

Catherine Armstrong

Melville

NY

11747

631-249-0505

www.comaxflavors.com

Corn Products International

Mary Lynne Shafer

DD Beverage Company

Andrew Drayson

Santa Monica

CA

90401

Dewmar International

Tim Thomas

Las Vegas

NV

89109

402-312-1477

www.DewmarInternational.com

DSM Nutritional Products

Caroline Brons

Parsippany

NJ

7054

973-257-8042

www.pourontheprofits.com

Easy2Live LLC.

John Hussey

Huntington Beach

CA

92648

310-383-3045

wwww.easy2sleep.com

Enceutical Corp

Brenda Stoner

Addison

TX

75001

972-620-7768

www.spotonenergy.com

Bothell

WA

98021

877-293-2239

www.essentiawater.com

Essentia Water, Inc.

708-551-2573
604-536-4070

www.beaverbuzz.com

Ex Drinks, LLC

Travis Arnesen

Henderson

NV

89014

702-949-6555

www.ExDrinks.com

Fair Oaks Farms Brands

Samuel Galina

Chicago

IL

60607

312-624-94444

www.corepower.com

Fantastic Fountain Inc.

Cregg Peterson

Las Vegas

NV

89103

818-334-2769

Info@FantasticFountain.net

Fluid Motion Beverage Inc.

Paul Tecker

Anaheim

CA

92808

Forward Foods

Kevin Weatherall

Functional Foods, Inc.

John Djerbaka

Long Beach

CA

90802

562-436-7284

www.functionalfoods.us.com

Funktional Beverages, Inc.

Tim Lucas

Dallas

TX

75218

877-324-7657

www.MyPurpleStuff.com

Glanbia Nutritionals

Michael Cornell

Carlsbad

CA

92010

760-438-0089

www.glanbianutritionals.com

GMP Laboratories of America

Andrea Groncy

92806

714-630-2467

www.gmplabs.com

800-895-7290

www.gofastsports.com

CA

800-951-9123

www.TALONenergy.com

760-500-1181

www.detourbar.com

Anaheim

CA

Go Fast Gum Company

Denver

CO

Go Fast Sports & Beverage Co.

Denver

CO

80204

303-893-1222

www.gofastsports.com

Golazo

Patrick Engelhart

Seattle

WA

98122

206-682-4625

www.VivaGolazo.com

GOOD4U Drinks Co.

Andrew Drayson

Santa Monica

CA

90401

604-536-4070

www.gd4u.com

GreenSeed Contract

David Gray

Batavia

IL

60510

630-761-8544

www.greenseedcp.com

GreenSeed Contract Packaging

David Gray

Batavia

IL

60510

630-761-8544

www.greenseedcp.com

grombomb healthy rehydration

Eric McCormick

San Diego

CA

92121

858-784-0379

www.drinkgrombomb.com

Guayaki SRP Inc.

Saskia Baur

Sebastopol

CA

95472

888-482-9254

www.guayaki.com

GURU Beverage Co.

Alexandre de Billy

New York

NY

10007

888-810-4878

www.guruenergy.com

H2M Beverage

Jody Piagesi

Pompton Lakes

NJ

7442

888-822-3143

www.drink989.com

Hammer Packaging

Tom Mason

Rochester

NY

14692

585-424-3880

www.hammerpackaging.com

Hangover Joe's Products (JV)

Shawn Adamson

Chehalis

Wa.

98532

501-553-3796

www.hangoverjoes.com

HBB, LLC

Karla Melton

Memphis

TN

38113

901-888-1209

www.ItsDrank.com

Healthy Sweet Beverages LLC

Kevin Jordan

Bristol

CT

6010

516-660-3393

www.healthysweetbeverages.com

Hiball Inc.

Todd Berardi

San Francisco

CA

94123

415-420-4801

www.hiballenergy.com

HIJINKS Energy

John Thomas

Newport Beach

CA

92660

949-554-3422

www.hijinksenergy.com

Hockey Soda Beverage Co.

Joe Bonfiglio

Glastonbury

CT

6033

860-690-4403

www.hockeyenergy.com

IFP, Inc.

Vicki Matzke

Faribault

MN

55408

800-9974437

www.ifpinc.biz

Intelligent Beverages

Steve Earnhart

Scottsdale

AZ

85254

602-380-3899

www.resQwater.com

ITO EN(North America) INC.

Rona Tison

Brooklyn

NY

11201

718-250-4000

www.itoen.com
www.jademonk.com

Jade MonkÂ® LLC.

Cort Bucher

Austin

TX

78756

201-637-5244

Jetway Inc.

Andrea Gall-Krasnick

Kailua

HI

96734

808-352-2939

www.jetlagbeverages.com

Jones Soda

Andrew Baumann

Seattle

WA

98134

206-624-3357

www.drinkwhoopass.com

Julio Cesar Chavez Beverage

Cheryl Walters

Scottsdale

AZ

85258

480-838-3777

www.jcchavezbev.com

Jungbunzlauer

Loren LeVasseur

Newton Centre

MA

2459

617-969-0900

www.jungbunzlauer.com

MARCH 2012 BEVNET MAGAZINE 79

COMPANY CONTACT INFORMATION (continued)
COMPANY

CONTACT NAME

CITY

STATE

ZIP

PHONE

WEB SITE

Juvenex Inc.

Shashi Shastri

Southfield

MI

48033

855-SCALEDOWN

Karma Culture LLC

CJ Rapp

Pittsford

NY

14534

585-218-0022

www.DrinkKarma.com

Ventura

CA

93003

888-310-6106

www.KeVita.com

KeVita Sparkling Probiotic Drink

www.scaledownshot.com

Kombucha Wonder Drink

Paul Sposato

Portland

OR

97208

503-224-7331

www.wonderdrink.com/

Kudu Energy LLC

Bob Mattei

Nashville

TN

37203

615-783-1745

www.kuduenergy.com

LifeAID Bev Co

Aaron Hinde

Santa Cruz

CA

95061

888-558-1113

www.GolferAID.com

877-281-3874

www.pro20.net

Farmington Hills

MI

48331

248-960-1700

www.5hourenergy.com

Lifeway Foods
Living Essentials
Lonza Inc.

Thomas Brancato

Allendale

NJ

7401

800-365-8324

www.lonzanutrition.com

Martin Bauer Inc.

Gary Vorsheim

Secaucus

NJ

7094

201-659-3100

www.martin-bauer-group.us

Mercy

Ryan

New York

NY

10013

212-510-8571

www.drinkmercy.com

Monarch Custom Beverages

Larry Williams

Canton

GA

30115

678-493-7000

www.monarchcustombeverages.com

Monster Beverage Comapny

Richard Hastings

Corona

CA

92880

951-739-6200

Monster Beverage Company

Richard Hastings

Corona

CA

92880

951-739-6200

Moss Adams LLP

Jim Pidgeon

San Francisco

CA

94105

415-677-8222

www.mossadams.com

My Body Shots, LLC

Barrie Mann

Las Vegas

NV

89118

702-998-2200

www.mybodyshots.com

Mycell Technologies

Stephanie Perine

Paramus

NJ

7652

201-483-9102

www.omegawater.com

National Beverage Corp

Nicole Cheifetz

Fort Lauderdale

FL

33324

954-581-0922

www.ripitenergy.com

Nature's Way Purewater

David Nagle

Pittston

PA

18640

570-655-7755

natureswaywater.net

Naturex Inc

Samuel Menard

South Hackensack

NJ

7606

201 440 5000

www.naturex.com

Nawgan Products, LLC

Mark Maggio

St. Louis

MO

63124

888-269-9411

www.nawgan.com

Nawgan Products, LLC

Tony Miano

St Louis

MO

63124

623-521-0391

www.nawgan.com

NEPA Carton & Carrier

Julie Fish

Neuro
Nitrix Energy

Eduardo Salles

Nitro2Go, Inc.

Moosic

PA

18507

570-457-7711

www.nepacartons.com

Santa Monica

CA

90401

877-280-6122

www.drinkneuro.com
www.nitrixenergy.com

Balneario Camboriu

SC

88330

+5547.3267.7503

Highland

CA

92346

909-864-4886

www.nitro2go.com

916-372-0600

www.gogirlenergy.com

Nor Cal Beverage Co. Inc.

Gordon Guzenski

West Sacramento

CA

95691

Nor-Cal Beverage Co. Inc.

Pete Grego

West Sacramento

CA

95691

916-372-0600

www.ncbev.com

NutraGenesis LLC

Tiea Zehnbauer

Brattleboro

VT

5301

802-257-5345

www.nutragenesis.com

Nuun & Co.

Nathan Underwood

Seattle

WA

98134

206-219-9237

www.nuun.com

NVE Pharmaceuticals

Walter Orcutt

Andover

NJ

7821

973-786-7868

www.nveusa.com

NYSW Beverage Brands Inc.

Luke Zakka

New York

NY

10018

212-SPRINGW

www.vblast.com

OhYeah! Nutrition

Wes Strickland

Charlotte

NC

28269

704-948-4345

www.ohyeahnutrition.com

OJO FORTIFIED EYE CARE NECTAR

Dr. Jodi Luchs

Merrick

NY

11566

O'Laughlin Industries

Joe Schreiber

Springfield

NJ

7081

973-376-4600

www.erythritol-erythritol.com

www.ojonectar.com

On Distribution

Lisa Medeiros

NEW HAVEN

CT

6511

203-624-4973

lisa@ondistribution.com

OnPoint Energy

Dennis Wynant

Signal HIll

CA

90755

888-551-0629

www.opeusa.com

Overnight Labels, Inc.

Carrie Houghton

Deer Park

NY

11729

631-242-4240

www.overnightlabels.com

PALO Root Tea

Jose Gonzalez

New York

NY

10027

917-816-3630

www.drinkpalo.com

Parkside Beverage

Cydney A. Whitmoyer

Leesport

PA

19533

610-916-2439

www.parksidebeverage.com

Party Armor

Cason Thorsby

Bay City

MI

48706

866-389-6336

www.drinkpartyarmor.com

Performance Packaging of Nevada

Laura Martin

Las Vegas

NV

89148

702-240-3457

www.pplv.co

PHARMACHEM

Gregory Drew

PHIX

Claudia Ortiz

Hollywood

FL

33020

954-929-8224

www.phix.com

Prestige Imports LLC

Tom Cleaver

St. Clair Shores

MI

48080

586 778-2143

www.prestigeimportsllc.com

Prinova USA

Nicole Aurelio

Carol Stream

IL

60188

630-868-0300

www.prinovagroup.com

201-719-7405

Protica

Alex Roth

Whitehall

PA

18052

610-832-2000

www.protica.com

Purac America, Inc.

Lee Heaton

Lincolnshire

IL

60069

847-634-6330

www.purac.com

80 BEVNET MAGAZINE MARCH 2012

COMPANY

CONTACT NAME

CITY

Pyure Brands LLC

Justin mears

Naples

FL

34109

239-210-8578

www.pyuresweet.com

Santa Monica

CA

90404

310-393-4647

www.redbullusa.com

Red Bull North America

STATE

ZIP

PHONE

WEB SITE

RelaxZen, Inc.

Brent Sonnek-Schmelz

Shrewsbury

NJ

7702

ReVival Labs

Sultan Zikria

Irvine

CA

92616

202-360-2020

www.youthH2O.com

RLED, LLC

Brian Boate

Sun Valley

CA

91352

818-243-8200

www.RoaringLion.com

Las Vegas

NV

89126

702-939-5535

www.rockstar69.com

Concord

NC

28027

800-933-2210

www.sndflavors.com

San Clemente

CA

92673

ROCKSTAR INC
S&D Coffee

Scott Geringer

Sambazon

www.relaxzen.com

www.sambazon.com

Security Beverages Company

Paul Shike

Miami

FL

31210

214-354-7670

www.securityfelbetter.com

SleeveCo, Inc.

Jyl Gryder

Dawsonville

GA

30534

706-216-3110

www.sleeveco.com

Sneaky Pete's Oatstanding Beverage

Pete Stilianessis

Butler

NJ

7405

973-850-6220

www.sneakypetesbeverage.com

SPEED Energy Drink

Erin Wheatley

Charlote

NC

28269

704-949-1255

www.speedenergy.com

Stauber Performance Ingredients

Shirley Rozeboom

Fullerton

CA

92835

714-441-3900

www.stauberusa.com

Stiebs, LLC

Brad Miller

Madera

CA

93637

559-661-0031

www.stiebs.com

Stimulicious Brands LLC

Corona

NY

11368

646-349-5649

www.drinkminx-xxx.com

Street King

Alyssa Richardson

New York

NY

10022

212-400-2200

www.streetking.com

SUnny Delight Beverages Co

Librado Guerrero

Dayton

NJ

8810

732-230-2265

SunOpta Food Solutions

Kim Hulsey

Santa Cruz

CA

95060

831-600-3607

www.sunopta.com

Superior Hockey Nutrition

Glen Schmelter

South Windsor

CT

6074

860-436-5800

www.presk8.com

Takasago International Corp.

Thalia Kalamaridis

Rockleigh

NJ

7647

201-767-9001

www.takasago.com

TAP PRODUCTIONS

Terry Peterson

Richmond Hill

NY

11418

718-441-0382

The FRS Company

877-FRS4YOU

www.frs.com

The NutraSweet Company

Brad Meyers

Chicago

IL

60654

312-873-5035

www.nutrasweet.com

The Wright Group

Chris Hebert

Crowley

LA

70526

800-201-3096

www.thewrightgroup.net

Tomatina LLC

John Goldfuss

New York

NY

646-468-2759

www.tomatinajuice.com

TONGO LLC

Paul Tecker

Anaheim

CA

92808

760-231-0806

www.DrinkTONGO.com

Turbo Energy Drink

Chris Hannemann

Redmond

WA

98052

562-822-9036

www.turbo-nrg.com

Vemma Nutrition Company

Bridget Bond

Scottsdale

AZ

85255

480-927-8999

www.vemma.com

Virginia Dare

Anton Angelich

Brooklyn

NY

11232

718-788-1776

www.virginiadare.com

VISO Beverages

Tom Morrow

Portland

OR

97205

503-222-2321

www.drinkviso.com

V-Labs, LLC

Diane Estrada

www.drinkthinq.com

Vuka, LLC
Warrior Energy, Inc.

Arthur Ebeling

Franklin

TN

37067

714-624-7455

Denver

CO

80247

720-535-1831

www.vuka.com

Martinsburg

WV

25401

304-264-0437

www.DrinkWarrior.com

Wellness Foods

Mauro Canziani

Santiago

CL

7630275

562-441-0900

www.tomarÃan.com

West Coast Chill

Geraldine Rietdyk

Irvine

CA

92623

949-474-2200

www.westcoastchill.com

WILD Flavors, Inc.

Victoria de la Huerga

Erlanger

KY

41018

859-342-3600

www.wildflavors.com

Worx Energy

Tony DeMatteo

Corona

CA

92880

951-739-6200

XAPP Protein Fitness Drink

Ashley Hicks

Carlsbad

CA

92018

760-448-3577

XL Energy Drink Corp

Maja Sponring

New York

NY

10175

212-594-3080

www.xl4you.us

XS Energy

David Vanderveen

Redmond

WA

98052

425-882-8500

www.xsblast.com

Xyience

Reuben Rios

Las Vegas

NV

89119

702-430-5428

www.xyience.com

Ft.Myers

FL

33912

800-361-8921

www.youtonics.com

Adam Rosenfeld

los angeles

CA

90021

213-415-1811

www.zenifydrinks.com

Los Angeles

CA

90245

866-SAY-ZICO

www.zico.com

Zipfizz Corp

Jason Stricevich

Mill Creek

WA

98034

425-398-4240

www.zipfizz.com

Zombie Blast LLC

Tom Talbott

Cerritos

CA

90703

562-921-7004

www.zombieblast.com

¯
ZUN

Brian Stearns

Boulder

CO

80301

303-447-6881

www.facebook.com/zunenergy

YouTonics
Zenify
ZICO

www.XAPP.com

MARCH 2012 BEVNET MAGAZINE 81

PROMO PARADE

Promotions, events and specials for the industry

RAGE Beverages Joins the BCSC in
the Fight Against Breast Cancer
RAGE Beverages has announced its 2012 partnership with the
Breast Cancer Society of Canada (BCSC). RAGE Beverages, 100
percent Canadian owned and operated, is a leading producer and
distributor of high potency energy drinks. The aim of the partnership is to raise awareness about breast cancer as well as make a
financial contribution to the research
efforts being made all across Canada.
The BCSC is committed to supporting progressive research efforts
in the fight against breast cancer
from coast to coast. The BCSC aims
to give innovative ideas and potential
research avenues the chance to get
up off the ground by funding the preliminary research necessary to apply
for federal grants.
During the campaign, RAGE
Beverages will donate 10
percent of its sales from
specific products to the
BCSC and provide cooler
decals and posters to the
participating stores in its
retail network. RAGE will
host sampling events later this summer in order
to engage customers
one-on-one.

Nawgan Announces Winner of
Facebook Sweepstakes
Nawgan Products LLC, the makers of Nawgan,
the innovative alertness functional beverage, announced that Jacob Brcic, a student at the University of Missouri, was the winner of the “How Do
You Use Your Nawgan?” Facebook Sweepstakes.
Brcic’s entry won over hundreds of other creative
photographs, which were entered after the company requested that Nawgan fans snap a creative
photo of themselves using cans of “Nawgan.”
Though the winner was chosen at random, entries
demonstrated quirky, fun, athletic and artsy ways
the beverage helps participants in their daily lives.
A Fine Arts major with an emphasis in Graphic
Design and Photography, Brcic created pencil holder out of a
Red Berries Nawgan can, Brcic’s favorite flavor. Brcic framed
the photograph to center on the Nawgan can’s slogan, “What to
Drink When You Want to Think.”
82 BEVNET MAGAZINE MARCH 2012

“Corks Against Cancer”
Constellation Brands, Inc., the world’s leading premium wine
company, donated approximately $163,000 to the Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research (Rally) as part of its national “Corks Against
Cancer” campaign.
Constellation donated $1 for every
bottle of Blackstone
wine that was sold
from SeptemberDecember 2011 to
Rally, a non-profit
organization which
raises awareness and funds for childhood cancer research. Since
its inception in 2005, Rally has awarded more than $2.2 million
in research grants supporting 50 childhood cancer projects in
hospitals across the country. To find out more about The Rally
Foundation and Corks Against Cancer, visit RallyFoundation.
org or contact Christen Patterson at christen@rallyfoundation.
org via phone 404-847-9176.

C by Courvoisier Sponsors Shaq AllStar Comedy Jam
Courvoisier, the cognac house of Beam, Inc. has announced
a new partnership with basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal’s
entertainment and new media company, Shaq Entertainment. Courvoisier’s newest product, C by Courvoisier, will
be the presenting sponsor of the Shaq All-Star Comedy Jam’s
nationwide tour throughout 2012, have a branded on-stage
presence during the Comedy Jam shows, and will host brandsponsored VIP after-parties.

Additionally, the brand will provide consumers with
exclusive access to tour videos on the Courvoisier YouTube
channel and Facebook page. Shaq’s All-Star Comedy Jam
tour will hit more than 20 cities in 2012, including New York,
Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami. For tickets and additional
information on the tour, visit http://www.shaqallstarcomedyjam.com/.

Open A CAn of WhoopAss and you
open a beverage unlike any other
on the market. This multi-functional
energy drink packs a one two punch
that will keep you going and work to
repair your muscles after rigorous or
extreme exercise.
IN EVERY CAN
Amino Acids such as Taurine, L-Arginine,
L-Carnitine, L-Lysine: the building blocks of
protein that are critical to metabolism.
Yerba mate, grape extract, and polyphenols
from green tea, which have been linked to
supporting workout recovery.
A robust Vitamin Blend: B2, B3, B6, B12, and
a total 2250 ORAC Units: Equal to antioxidant
power of 2.5 servings of vegetables.